


your future's a machine

by freewaffle



Category: Naruto
Genre: Canon Divergence, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2020-01-15 09:08:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 28,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18495793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freewaffle/pseuds/freewaffle
Summary: "The Uchihas as a collective had been a threat, shunned by the village and suppressed by the council. A single Uchiha, however, could be a novelty. Under the right tutelage, he could be the perfect weapon." Konoha attempts to craft the last Uchiha into their tool, and in doing so sows the seeds for its own destruction.





	1. Prologue

Hiruzen had always hated hospitals.

The air is nauseatingly thick, the hours painfully long, and his visits have often been accompanied by a sense of helplessness unusual to a man in his position. Yet today, he is burdened by something heavier than mere restlessness.

“He’s ready to see you now,” Kurenai Yuuhi says, stepping out. She had been called in for her genjutsu expertise - in this case, the young patient needed special attention in erasing the lingering illusions from his mind.

“We appreciate your help,” he tells her quietly.

“It’s a good thing you alerted me in time, honestly. A few more hours without treatment and his mind would be altered permanently. You saved his life, Lord Hokage.”

 _What is the worth of a life_ , he thinks, _when all else has been ripped away?_

The room he enters is small and dimly lit. The child’s shadow is projected upon the expanse of candlelight on the wall, ominous and sprawling, but he himself is slight against the thick woolen blankets. He holds himself with a fragile rigidity, but when he turns his head Hiruzen’s breath catches.

The eyes are red.

The red of the Uchiha, of their cursed doujutsu, of the fan in their insignia, of their crimson flames. Red like the blood spilled on the white stone of their compound.

Rationally, the sight of the one-tomoe sharingan should not surprise him, considering the mass slaughter the child had just witnessed. The child’s brother must have the mangekyou by now. Yet those eyes carry a symbolic weight, for the Uchiha were meant to be eradicated from Konoha, save for one who would simply retreat into the shadows. Sasuke, however, is present, and very much alive.

Hiruzen schools his face into softness. “It is good to see you awake,” he says gently. “We can prepare you a meal, any meal you like. What is your favorite?”

Sasuke looks at him blankly, seeming to gaze through him rather than at him. Hiruzen maintains his smile. He had experience with the kindly grandfather routine, with amusing and soothing the children that lined Konoha’s streets. Danzo had once questioned the necessity of his trips through Konoha, and Hiruzen had remarked that this was the reason he held his place among the leaves facing the sun, and Danzo among the roots underground.

 _An effective public image is a necessary part of every hokage’s arsenal,_ he had chided. Minato Namikaze had been the handsome, chivalrous young hero. Hiruzen, wizened and grey, would play the role of the affable elder. The children of Konoha were future soldiers whose loyalty must be ensured.

Sasuke Uchiha’s loyalty in particular _must_ be ensured.

“I can bring you some sweets - perhaps you’d enjoy some dango?” Sasuke’s nose crinkled in distaste. Hiruzen let out a short laugh. “How about ramen, then? From Ichiraku’s? I dare say there is no finer chef in the village than Teuchi.”

“I’ll have ramen,” the child replied shortly. Hiruzen was aware he likely wanted an end to their conversation. Very well. There would be time to quell any doubt or mistrust in Sasuke’s heart much later.

The boy could be, _would_ be, their most valuable asset. Although he had ejected Danzo from his position as advisor upon discovering his treachery, he could not deny that Itachi had given them a gift, when he had taken Danzo’s deal. The benefits were clear, even if Hiruzen had been unwilling to propose the idea to him directly. In some ways, Sasuke’s life would be easier. The Uchihas as a collective had been a threat, shunned by the village and suppressed by the council.

A single Uchiha, however, could be a novelty. Under the right tutelage, he could be the perfect weapon.

Hiruzen is plagued by disgust and sorrow, shame and desperation. He lies awake at night, contemplating the past from every angle, wondering if there was ever a kinder way, a softer resolution. He runs through every scenario in his mind like a labyrinth, each time encountering the same dead end.

\-----------------

Iruka Umino is intimately familiar with grief, and he sees it reflected in his students every day.

He had made it his mission, upon becoming a teacher, to scope out and develop an acute awareness of where each student was struggling. Most of the children in the entering class were well adjusted, thankfully, but there were many still in need of attentive care.

Hinata Hyuuga withdraws into herself, as if anticipating berating or a blow for the faintest mistakes. Iruka offers her gentle encouragement. Naruto Uzumaki comes too close, talks too loudly, distracts the class in desperate attempts to be seen, welcoming mockery and jeering as a reprieve from cold neglect. Iruka takes time out to treat him to ramen.

But when it comes to Sasuke Uchiha, he finds himself at a loss.

The boy is a prodigy, undoubtedly. His skill is uncommon - for his age, and generally. He fights with a precision and refinement that shinobi many years his senior do not quite manage. He is calm, contained, indifferent to his teachers and his peers. By all means, there's nothing wrong with Sasuke Uchiha, at least not in the conventional sense.

Yet every so often, a cold, inhuman fury, alien upon any child, will settle across his features. Sparring with the other children, sitting by himself at lunch time. His eyes will wander and fix upon a distant point, seeing something the rest of them cannot.

“I want to recommend Sasuke Uchiha for a psych evaluation,” he tells Kurenai Yuuhi. She is his fellow teacher for now, but her status as the village’s leading genjutsu expert and her incoming promotion to jounin has given her considerably more sway with the council and the shinobi that oversee the students’ training.

Kurenai shifts uncomfortably. “I...already suggested it. But if they test negative - these evals can seriously stall their graduation. Uchiha is too valuable to keep restrained.”

“And who exactly decided that?”

“It’s hokage’s orders, Iruka.”

Iruka sucks in a breath. For some of the students, psychological evaluations were aggressively pushed. The council had been demanding one for Naruto Uzumaki on the grounds that he was a danger to his classmates for ages, based upon his disruptive behavior. Iruka had argued furiously that Naruto was well meaning, if mischievous, and entirely mentally sound. He didn't believe that completely - no one in Naruto’s position could grow up sane - but he firmly believed Naruto would never be a danger to them, despite the council’s sick insistence on pushing him into civilian life against his will.

Sasuke Uchiha, however, was groomed to be the prized weapon in Konoha’s arsenal. A negative psych evaluation could delay his graduation, and would never be tolerated.

Iruka’s wishes are fulfilled, but perhaps only to suppress any further interrogation into the matter. The mind healer pulls Sasuke aside for questioning, for all of half an hour.

“Zero emotional disturbance,” she reports, as Sasuke looks away, empty and distant.

\----------------

The first time he sees him, he’s sitting at the harbor, gazing at the stretch of water before him.

His hair is dark and silky, bangs falling into his eyes. His profile is oddly solemn, in a way that doesn't suit their age. Naruto is used to looking - it’s easy to look when you move through the village like a ghost, untouched and unseen. But the boy looks _back_. And Naruto is bewildered, for there is neither fear nor judgement nor apprehension in those eyes.

He makes a face at him.

The boy is suddenly irate, haughty. He makes a face right back.

This is how Naruto comes to know Sasuke Uchiha.

There he is, throwing shuriken on the training field, hitting his mark perfectly every time. There he is, looking out the window rather than at his lessons - who knows how he manages such high scores. There he is, surrounded by girls. The pink haired one eyes with him particular interest, and Naruto is overcome with the urge to make her look at _him_ instead, anything to one up Sasuke, even for a moment, even if he probably wouldn't care.

“One more round, I can do this all day, get back here!” He screams, seconds after being pummeled into the ground again during their sparring sessions.

“Don’t pick fights you can’t win,” Sasuke replies smugly, and sure enough, Naruto doesn't win. Sasuke’s attention drifts elsewhere, always elsewhere, and Naruto is overcome with a perplexing, unassailable, something.

He sneaks over to the harbor to see if he can find him again. He does. Sasuke catches his eye. Naruto makes a face. Sasuke makes a face right back.

He wonders, as he walks away, if Sasuke is like him. If he also turns away to hide a secret smile.

\-------------

By some miracle, Naruto graduates.

“This is unexpected,” Koharu Utatane mutters. Hiruzen is inclined to agree. Naruto Uzumaki had been talentless all his life. Hiruzen had anticipated that he would fade away on his own. He would mollify the child’s anguish on occasion, of course, ensuring his loyalty to Konoha. Yet the ever present and compelling possibility remained - that Naruto would burn out, blend into civilian life, perhaps put an end to himself and let the kyuubi die as a consequence.

Hiruzen would never have killed the jinchuuriki. He would never dirty his own hands with a child’s blood, at any rate, although he could not deny there was a certain...efficiency to the possibility.

Yet Naruto had graduated, and would become a shinobi.

“A disaster,” Homura Mitukado, another one of the elders murmurs, knuckles white from gripping the edge of the table.

“Or an opportunity,” Koharu suggests, and when their eyes meet, Hiruzen understands.

He thinks of sharingan eyes, controlling the kyuubi, setting it upon their village. He thinks that there are fewer weapons more effective than those that could be disguised as natural disasters. He thinks of Sasuke, cold and focused, excelling in every discipline. He thinks of Naruto, loud and clumsy, desperate to prove he can be of some use.

They would need a buffer of sorts, as well. Someone who would be undoubtedly competent, enough to complete their duties as a leaf shinobi, but too sheltered and preoccupied with appearances to empathize heavily with a jinchuuriki.

Hiruzen considers the three students now on his list, and assembles Team 7.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I think Naruto as a story has many compelling aspects (ROOT, ANBU, the Uchiha massacre) they were extremely poorly handled. This story is my attempt at correcting that in a believable way. Also, it will have canon SNS.


	2. Bloodlines (Part 1)

“So let me get this straight. You want _me_ to train what you’re attempting to craft into your most valuable genin team?”

Hiruzen takes a long, slow drag of his pipe. “It is of utmost importance to the leaf”

“No thanks,” Kakashi says lightly.

“It’s not optional, Kakashi.” Hiruzen raises his eyes, and their tranquility belies his clear vexation.

“Since leaving ANBU,“ _I was discarded from ANBU_ , “You have contributed little while continuing to receive living stipends. You have failed every team that has come your way, and a colleague has even expressed concerns regarding your mental wellbeing.” Another long, slow drag. “Additionally, you are the only shinobi in this village who may properly train a sharingan user.”

 _He could’ve began and ended with that last part - it’s the only part that really matters here,_ Kakashi thinks but does not say.

“I understand this task is not to your taste,” The older man begins, gently. “But your duty is not merely to yourself. It is to the will of fire.”

If he’s being honest - and he rarely is - Kakashi cares little for the will of fire. The will of fire consumed his teammates. The will of fire killed his father.

But he is a hollow man who has moved only in the direction he is pointed towards, for a very long time now. Today will be no exception.

“If you insist,” he says mildly, and Hiruzen smiles.

* * *

He had not expected to teach - had not expected to live, really, after his dismissal from ANBU. But he particularly had not expected to be placed in charge of sets of genin, mismatched and uncooperative. He knew Gai had meant well, when he spoke to Hiruzen about his destructive behavior in ANBU. But killing had been easy. He was assigned a task, he completed it, and in the span of time it took for his chidori to carve its way through flesh, he could almost forget his ghosts.

Molding three brats into a functional unit consisting of the kyuubi’s jinchuuriki and his eventual handlers was an entirely different story. Too personal, too involved. Maybe he would fail them like the rest of the genin sent his way, and the council would abandon their futile pursuit of controlling the kyuubi. Let Minato’s boy fade into obscurity as was initially planned. The pink haired girl was wholly unremarkable, the village would surely function without her. As for the Uchiha - well, Kakashi was certain the council would pull some strings to ensure he was active on missions as soon as possible, either way.

“My first impression,” he says carelessly, “is that I don’t like any of you.”

The children stare at him, dumbfounded. He smiles placidly behind his mask. In his mind’s eye, he can see Iruka Umino shake his head disapprovingly.

They head out into the courtyard.

“Well, let’s begin with introducing yourselves. Your likes, your dislikes, your dreams for the future and all that.”

The jinchuuriki shuffles. “Hey, hey! Why don’t you introduce yourself first?”

The pink haired girl, born of no-name shinobi, eyes him warily. “You do seem kind of suspicious…”

“Oh, me? Well, my name is Kakashi Hatake. I have no desire to tell you my likes or dislikes...as for dreams for the future...hmmm...and I have lots of hobbies.”

“All he told us was his name,” the pink haired girl grumbles. Kakashi ignores her.

“Now it’s your turn. Let’s start on the right.”

The jinchuuriki insists on going first. He is effusive, excitable, as if compensating for a lifetime of neglect and invisibility by taking up as much space as possible. He wants to be hokage someday (“to make the village acknowledge my existence!”) which Kakashi privately feels is unlikely, but if the council’s experiment in controlling the jinchuuriki is successful, he will find a place for himself in the village at least. It is a far kinder fate than the one that awaited him prior to his unexpected graduation.

The pink-haired girl’s name is Sakura Haruno, and she is vaguely delusional. Kakashi had taken note of her profile. Proficient academically, mediocre in combat, no real instinct for assassination, but possessing all the makings of an obedient soldier. The girl shows little interest in her potential as a kunoichi, throwing coy glances at Uchiha, who steadfastly ignores her existence. He supposes he can understand the fascination - the Uchiha clan had an air of mystery and danger to them prior to the massacre, and the sudden disappearance of all but one had only contributed to their allure. To a girl like Sakura, ordinary in every sense of the word when compared to her peers, the prospect of winning over the lone Uchiha survivor provided both a potential status symbol, and a compelling fantasy.

And then there is Sasuke Uchiha himself, who appears to be, frankly, disturbed. He declares his desire to kill his brother with an almost comical intensity, and Kakashi wonders how the third got it into his head that he was equipped to manage this level of emotional baggage.

“Let’s move onto your test,” he says airily, as Sasuke glares into empty space.

* * *

The test is deceptively simple. There are two bells, and the children must retrieve them from him before their time is up. The person unable to acquire the bells (or unable to abide by the rules) will be tied to a stump. The true purpose, however, has confounded every set of genin sent his way thus far. To demonstrate the ability to work as a unit - the one condition Kakashi requires in a potential team, and the only condition that escapes every prospective student, year after year.

“You won’t succeed unless you come at me intending to kill,” he tells them.

Sasuke and Sakura quickly find a place to hide. Kakashi scopes the area for Naruto, wondering if it's possible the jinchuuriki is more clever than he’d expected - only to discover him standing directly in front of him.

“I don't need to hide! I’ll take you on right now!” He screams. It occurs to Kakashi he has never heard the child utter a single sentence at a normal volume.

The test goes as he predicted, for the most part. Naruto is capable of surprises and upsets, but his lack of discipline and inability to work with others makes him erratic and unreliable. Sakura remains absorbed in her head, running after Sasuke and refusing to confront Kakashi’s challenges. Sasuke is talented, as expected - Kakashi is not surprised the council has become so fixated on him - but his brilliance is tempered by a certain callous disregard for his teammates, who he seems to consider beneath him.

Predictably, Naruto ends up tied to the stump, after attempting to steal a bento.

“I don’t care if I don’t get to eat! I can go days without eating!” Naruto cries out, as Sasuke and Sakura studiously ignore him in favor of their lunches.

 _They’re going to fail,_ he thinks. It wasn't surprising, and he hadn't been invested in this assignment in the first place. He is about to step out from behind the tree to announce their dismissal, when he hears a rustling near the stump.

“Here,” Sasuke grits out, as if against his will.

There is an uncomfortable silence.

“If you're hungry, we won't be able to work as a team. We won't be effective.”

The words are clipped, distant, but Kakashi has lived enough of his own life hiding behind his mask, his books, his aloofness, to understand someone else’s disguise.

They pass, to everyone's surprise. Sasuke cuts Naruto out of his ropes without looking him in the eye, and Kakashi wonders whether his task has become far simpler, or immeasurably complicated.

* * *

Their first mission involves chasing down a group of cats. Somehow, it becomes a fierce competition.

“I had that one! Sensei, did you see I almost had it? Sasuke jumped in front of me to make me look bad in front of Sakura-chan!”

“Be quicker next time,” Sasuke replies, smirking. His smirk only grows wider when Naruto cusses him out.

“I saw Sasuke-kun get to it first,” Sakura begins, cloyingly sweet, but her voice falters as Sasuke throws her an inexplicably irritated look.

“Sakura, why don't you explain to us the difference between shape and nature transformation? In preparation for our upcoming lesson.” Kakashi interjects, hoping to cut through the tension. Sakura beams at this. He has quickly learned that the one thing in the world Sakura enjoys discussing more than Sasuke is her encyclopedic arsenal of knowledge.

“Well, nature transformation changes the fundamental characteristics of chakra, allowing for variance in elemental release, and shape transformation changes the structure of chakra, making it malleable and molding it to whatever shape - “

“Oi, slow down! I can’t keep up with all of that!” Naruto cuts her off, panicked. Sakura rolls her eyes. “How did you ever make genin?”

“It’s like my fireball jutsu.” Sasuke says. “I just change the chakra’s properties into fire - though, it’s easier for me, since I have fire affinity - and then the shape is, well, a ball.”

Naruto squints at him, obviously finding this explanation useful but not wanting to say so.

“You don’t have to show off, Sasuke. Sakura-chan was already explaining it.”

Irritation flickers across Sasuke’s face before he composes himself. “Whatever,” he replies, in a tone far too practiced to be truly careless.

“I liked your explanation, Sasuke-kun!” Sakura yells out, trailing after him as he walks away.

Training goes like this, generally.

Naruto attempts to capture Sakura’s attention, despite her protests, and Sakura attempts to capture Sasuke’s attention, despite his blunt rejections. Naruto attempts to fight Sasuke, to “make him apologize for hurting Sakura-chan’s feelings” or because he’s “tired of the smug superiority bullshit” or sometimes simply, just because. The justifications are numerous and varied enough that they begin to seem like excuses for something else entirely.

And Sasuke...Kakashi had expected contained indifference from him, and for the most part, that is what he finds. Yet every so often his eyes flit towards Naruto. He goads and teases and corrects him. When Naruto goes missing one afternoon, Sasuke disappears shortly after. Kakashi finds them both in the woods near the training grounds that night, asleep against the tree branches, exhausted from sparring. When they practice their chakra control, they attempt to outdo each other in frenzied competition, oddly intense in their fixation.

“Look Sakura-chan, I’ve almost got it!” Naruto says excitedly, climbing clumsily up a tree. Sakura nods approvingly, clearly enjoying having an edge over the boys for once. “That’s good,” she says solemnly, in an obvious imitation of Iruka. “But you still need to take it nice and slow - don’t rush in like you always do, or you’ll ruin it all!”

As usual, Naruto isn’t listening. “This is easy,” he declares, too proud to notice his tenuous grip on the tree branch slipping, and before Kakashi can react, he is falling.

“You idiot!” Sakura shrieks, and Kakashi positions himself to catch Naruto - but there is already a hand clamped around Naruto’s ankle. Kakashi isn’t surprised to see it belongs to Sasuke.

“Usuratonkachi,” Sasuke mutters.

“Sasuke,” Naruto replies mockingly, mimicking his irritable tone.

It’s little moments like these that unsettle Kakashi, for reasons he can’t quite pinpoint.

Sasuke is the first to react when Naruto is in trouble, however trivial the trouble maybe, and the last to go home, waiting on Naruto to finish his exercises so he can throw one last taunt at him before returning home for the day. He is oddly riled by Naruto’s challenges, in sharp contrast to his usual calm demeanor. His interest in antagonizing Naruto is usurped only by his tendency to fret over him.

Kakashi’s task is to train a sharingan user capable of subduing a jinchuuriki. His task is to mold a jinchuuriki into a controlled soldier. He wants - he encourages the children to prioritize their friendships before their missions, yet by virtue of their roles, they can never truly put themselves or each other first.

“Let’s stop here for today,” Kakashi says, and if the children sense an uncharacteristic strain in his voice, they do not mention it.

\----------------------

Their first serious mission takes them to the Land of Waves.

The fog is cool and moist, a welcome change from the parched air and burdensome heat that looms over Konoha in the summertime.

Naruto has been sulking in the corner of the boat they’re traveling in, irritated by Sasuke “upstaging” him through successfully confronting two henchmen sent their way, but his mood lightens as they approach the nearby village.

“We’re almost here!” He says, several octaves too loud for shinobi meant to be traveling in secrecy.

“Shut your mouth, boy,” the fisherman assisting their passage growls. “We’re not taking a hidden route through the mist because we wanna advertise where we’re going.”

Naruto’s eagerness is unperturbed by the harsh reprimand. He crawls over near the end of the boat, too close to the edge, and Kakashi has the strangest instinct to pull him closer so he doesn’t fall over.

He turns to Tazuna instead. “Just so you know,” he says casually, “I’m aware you lied about this being a simple escort mission to avoid paying more money.”

“You’d abandon a poor, elderly man in his noble mission to build a bridge?” Tazuna replies, in mock horror. “Allow my grandchild and daughter to starve?”

Kakashi rolls his eyes. “I didn’t say we aren’t completing the mission.” He would just have to keep the details a secret from Konoha, and handle the deadlier aspects of the mission himself.

He didn’t mind, really. It’s not like he hadn’t faced much worse in ANBU.

Sakura surveys her surroundings with mild disgust as soon as they step off the boat. “How come your village looks so beat up and gross - I mean - not gross, but why does it look. You know?” She seems mildly embarrassed at her lack of tact. Kakashi sighs. Sakura tends to speak before thinking almost as frequently as Naruto, but she at least has some semblance of self-awareness.

Kakashi turns to the older man, meaning to apologize for his student’s lack of manners, but Tazuna only chuckles.

“You're a bright girl,” he says. “Put two and two together. What does your rich country have that my poor country doesn't?”

Sakura's face scrunches up, as it usually does when she is deeply in thought.

“I know!” Naruto exclaims. “We’re in the middle of forests, and Wave country is surrounded by water!”

“He means we have a hidden village, dumbass,” Sasuke says shortly.

Naruto looks put off. “I knew that Sasuke, I was just...just kidding, that’s all!”

“But Tazuna, what difference does it make?” Sakura asks. “Doesn’t the water surrounding the area give you natural protection from neighboring countries?” Kakashi realized she was parroting what he had explained to the kids on their way there. It had been a sugarcoated, mollified version of Wave country’s circumstances, to say the least.

“Oh come on, kids. You can cross water to attack if you really need to. All being surrounded did was make it so shipping routes are the only way to trade, and they’re all monopolized by shipping magnates around here anyway.” Tazuna squinted into the hazy street, at two children rummaging through garbage. “Fire country funds hidden villages in exchange for military might. Wave country has nothing of the sort, so we’re little more than a battle ground for feuds between our neighbors. Hard to build a healthy economy in the middle of all that nonsense.” Tazuna grumbles.

It was a crude, simplistic explanation, but it held truth. Still, Tazuna, like most people, was unaware that the relationship between the hidden villages and the host countries had grown parasitic. Understanding that their presence would become moot in the absence of conflict, the kages were not above instigating warfare simply to ensure their political relevance.

But there's no use explaining all this to the kids, Kakashi thinks. He was adept at avoiding politics and held no desire to imbue skepticism towards Konoha in anyone else. He’d discovered the hard way it lead to nothing good.

“Remember that our mission is to focus on guarding Tazuna,” Kakashi says. “Try not to let our surroundings distract you.” He throws a meaningful glance at Naruto as he says this, and Naruto draws back from a street cart filled with colorful trinkets, pouting.

* * *

 

Tazuna’s house is warm and bright, but the people dwelling within are anything but.

Tazuna is caustic at best, hostile at worst. His grandson, Inari, is weepy and distraught, throwing forlorn glances at a photo of a man Kakashi has not seen in their home. Dead, most likely.

Tazuna’s daughter is kind, but oddly tense, taut like string stretched to its limits, on the verge of snapping.

 _Well,_ Kakashi thinks,  _At least her cooking is delicious._

And yet, his students’ wonder appears untouched by the gloom of their surroundings. Naruto and Sakura barrage him with questions about Wave country, with Sasuke occasionally quietly interjecting. They are fascinated by the plantlife, the food, the people. Kakashi had forgotten what it was like, to be so young and still possess a curiosity untainted by cynicism and prejudice.

He hears hushed laughter, later that night. _Must be imagining things_ , he thinks, rolling back over to sleep. Then he hears it again - laughter, a snort, the sound of a shove to the stomach, urgent whispers to keep quiet.

 _They’re still awake_ , he thinks tiredly. _Of course they didn’t listen when I told them to get to bed._

Sighing, he walks over to the source of the laugher. They’re all in...Sakura’s room? Sure enough, three figures are bundled up in blankets, visible through the crack in the door.

Holding a copy of Icha Icha Paradise.

_You’ve got to be kidding me._

“Does kissing really require this much saliva? Ew!” Sakura squeals.

“Maybe we can try and find out, Sakura-chan,” Naruto says, in an obvious poor imitation of a raunchy novel character, and Sakura slaps his head.

“Why’s he...sucking at her for this long, it's like he's nursing,” Sasuke whispers disgustedly. Sakura blushes as he leans over to get a closer look at the book.

“Will you move a bit?” Naruto barks out from over Sakura’s shoulder. “Your stupid duck ass hair is blocking the page.”

They nudge and shove and argue. At one point, Sasuke pulls a rug out from under Naruto, and Sakura laughs a bit too loudly as Naruto stumbles. Naruto retaliates with a pillow meant for Sasuke’s head, which instead hits Sakura squarely in the face.

“Naruto!” She outright yells, but her anger is disrupted by laughter, unexpected and unfamiliar.

Sasuke’s laughter.

Kakashi closes the door as quietly as possible. He returns to bed, and when he sees his book returned to his side table in the morning, he pretends he never noticed it was gone.

* * *

The following morning is cool and damp, marked by brisker winds and a pale grey sky, but its melancholy does nothing to mitigate Naruto’s excitement.

“Let’s go already Sakura-chan, you’re taking forever, don’t you wanna see me kick some ass!” Naruto tugs on Sakura’s arm as she eats her breakfast, too slow for his liking. She shoves him, but there is much less genuine annoyance in it.

“I’m coming already, calm down,” she says, through a mouthful of food. Sasuke waits by the door, silent and vaguely menacing, unrecognizable from the previous night. _He almost resembled a well adjusted twelve year old,_ Kakashi thinks.

Kakashi isn’t opposed to return to his usual demeanor in this case, however. Tazuna’s project was not popular among the shipping magnates who monopolized trade routes in the region. The bridge offered the common people, owners of small businesses and streetside merchants, autonomy that could threaten the wealth accumulation of the elite. Including one particular corporate thug by the name of Gato, who was known to hire mercenaries to eliminate economic inconveniences.

Which meant that inevitably, as they escorted Tazuna towards the bridge, they would run into trouble.

He directs them towards a shortcut in the forest - the lush greenery would provide cover, and when Gato’s henchmen appeared, it would be easy to avoid civilian casualty.

Their path is calm and still, and for just a moment Kakashi adjusts to his surroundings, when he registers the high, keening sound of knives slicing through air.

“Guard Tazuna!” He barks at Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura, who are quick to surround him. The sound of knives is replaced by the heavy thud of a sword hitting tree bark, and Kakashi spots him, a tall, muscled man balancing himself on his blade.

He recognizes him, of course. He spent enough time in ANBU to have the bingo book practically memorized.

“Zabuza Momochi,” Kakashi appraised him. “Running errands for one of the most depraved pieces of shit in the country. Why am I not surprised?”

Zabuza merely smirks in response. “Kakashi, the copy ninja…” His eyes flicker over to Tazuna, who is eyeing the genin surrounding him with a fearful uncertainty. “What kind of scam did you have to pull to get him as your guard dog, bridge builder?”

Zabuza had been a rogue shinobi from Kirigakure. _The bloody mist,_ his ANBU colleagues would call it, telling ghost stories over a campfire on missions run too long. He had become a legend of sorts, since going rogue, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake.

Privately, Kakashi had felt his time in ANBU was not much different than Zabuza’s legacy. Killing for money, killing on orders, til the faces of his targets became an indistinguishable blur. But these were not thoughts he had interest in vocalizing.

Kakashi glances back at his team, tightly wound around the bridge builder. Naruto and Sakura are wide eyed and cautious, but Sasuke is shaking with fright - of course he is, Kakashi thinks with a hot flare of anger. Of course unchecked post traumatic stress would not be enough of a concern to delay entry into the field.

“Sasuke,” Kakashi calls out, willing his voice to remain as steady as possible. “You don’t need to worry. I’m here to protect all three of you.” He turns his head briefly to offer an assuring smile. The gesture feels forced and unfamiliar upon his face, but the trembling lines of Sasuke’s body still anyway.

“I’d pay attention if I were you, Kakashi,” Zabuza growls.

They lose themselves in a swirl of hand seals and taijutsu. Kakashi’s skill with the sharingan confounds the rogue shinobi for a moment, but it is not enough to distract him from setting up his trap. Kakashi feels water engulf him, surrounding him in an airborne prison. He is lightheaded from oxygen deprivation, on the verge of losing consciousness, when Sasuke tosses a large shuriken that substitutes into Naruto.

 _They planned that without even speaking,_ he realizes in disbelief.

The trick with the shadow shuriken is distraction enough for him to buy time to form and launch his chidori, which hits Zabuza squarely in the shoulder. Not a killing blow, but the blood loss would be enough to ensure unconsciousness. He charges a second chidori, preparing for a fatal blow, when senbon strike Zabuza directly in the neck.

Kakashi trails the path of the senbon towards a figure in the trees, wearing the mask of a Kiri hunter nin.

“I’ll take care of it from here,” says a cool voice. A young boy’s voice.

The hunter nin steps towards Zabuza, methodical in his movements. Sakura watches nervously, before leaning close to whisper to Kakashi.

“Um, Sensei,” she begins, awkwardly, “I’ve always read that...well, hunter nin dispose of the body where they’re at, right? And they don’t use senbon.”

 _They don’t_ , Kakashi thinks. The oxygen deprivation and exhaustion from sharingan use must have gotten to his brain, because the supposed hunter nin’s intentions become apparent in stark clarity.

“I think we can take care of it, actually,” Kakashi says, approaching the boy. “Since you’d have to dispose of the body anyway, it doesn’t really matter which one of us does it, right?”

The boy is sharper than Kakashi guessed, because his next action is not to respond, but to yank the senbon from Zabuza’s neck.

“Run,” he says coldly, as Zabuza groggily stumbles forward. There is a thick, solid, wall of ice between them suddenly. _He’s fast_ , Kakashi realizes. _But I can be faster._

He manages to get a hold of the boy, driving through his wall of ice with chidori. He knocks him out, ensuring the blow isn’t fatal - the boy appears to be little more than a child - but finds that Zabuza has escaped in the skirmish.

Well, he could deal with that later. _For now_ , he thinks, looking at the boy unconscious at his feet, _I need to ask some questions._

* * *

The boy has long black hair and a fine, delicate facial structure. His nails are painted, his clothes are loose and effeminate, and his expression as blank as snow.

He has not spoken a word.

“When I hired you as guards,” Tazuna grumbles, “That wasn't permission to make my house your hiding spot for hostages.”

“If you’d made the danger of this mission clear to the hokage,” Kakashi says, “there would be several jounin here with their own base, and you wouldn't have to make do with three genin and a hostage in your kitchen.”

The boy’s eyes flicker with amusement. Kakashi glances at him sharply.

“Don't think for a second this is a game,” he says. “You were assisting one of the most dangerous mercenaries in the world.” He crouches low, so they are face to face. To his credit, the boy does not flinch.

“If you have a family, someone you'd like to return to, we can take you to them,” Kakashi says. It's not the protocol for missing nin in any nation, which is likely what this boy is, but he's certain he can keep it discreet. “All you need to do is give me information on Zabuza Momochi. His technique, any hidden skills or weapons, any backup he may have. And you're free to go.”

For a moment, Kakashi thinks he may get a response. But any tremor in the boy’s face is immediately smoothed out, features wiped clean of all feeling.

“Can't we force information out of him?” Sasuke demands, when Kakashi goes to meet his students.

“I bet I could do it,” mutters Naruto, obviously disappointed he was unable to finish his fight with Zabuza.

“Are you suggesting we resort to torture?” Kakashi asks, unimpressed. “You're inexperienced genin. Leave the interrogation to me.”

To his surprise, it's Sakura who speaks next. She has been hesitant to voice her opinion unless called upon, Kakashi realizes, when it comes to matters involving their mission, just as she is uncomfortable jumping into battle alongside Naruto and Sasuke. It likely doesn't help that Naruto and Sasuke have already latched onto each other, fighting as a unit without considering her. But that doesn't mean she has nothing to contribute.

“I did some research, actually,” she says “When I went into town today. I got books, talked to some people. I mean, Zabuza’s from the mist right? And that kid is probably a missing nin. And when you look into missing nin from Kiri, they're usually, well….victims of clan cullings, a lot of the time. Clans with kekkei genkai. Or they're descendants of survivors.”

 _Huh,_ Kakashi thinks. _I might actually be able to work with that._

“I’ll see if I can pry anything out of him by discussing his background,” he tells them. “And Sakura...good work today.” He gives her a small smile, as she beams in surprised pleasure.

They make their way back into the kitchen, where the boy sits with the same blank gaze.

“We know who you are,” Kakashi tells him. The boy looks up with something like skepticism. “Or at least, we know who you might be. We know you may have been displaced, maybe you’ve lost family, maybe in Kiri’s elimination of certain kekkei genkais. But you need to know we can help you - if you tell us what we want. And if you don’t,” Kakashi glances meaningfully at the seals binding the boy’s jutsu, and the ropes around his wrists and ankles, “you will remain a captive indefinitely.”

The boy seems to weigh his options. There is a look in his eye, too calculating and somber for a child. He appears to come to a decision. “My name is Haku. I won't tell you what Zabuza can do, or what he's planning,” the boy’s voice is surprisingly steady and clear, not threadbare from lack of use as Kakashi expects. “But I will tell you what he means to me. He is... _my_ person to protect. You are correct. I come from a kekkei genkai clan. Or, my mother did. She's dead now, and I would be too, had it not been for Zabuza.”

“He left you alone to get captured while he ran off!” Naruto interrupts. “He's using you! He's not some kind of hero.”

Haku continues, unperturbed. “He saved me from my solitude. He clothed me, he fed me, he gave me purpose. So in exchange, I choose to live for him, die for him, and kill for him, if that is what it comes to.”

“That’s not a real choice,” Naruto argues. “If he just cares about you, he wouldn't ask you to be his human shield and let you get kidnapped just so he could escape! He doesn't care whether you live or die.”

Haku looks at him in silence, for a moment, before responding.

“Does your village care whether you live or die?” He asks. “If you were to die, on this mission you clearly are not qualified for, would you be venerated as heroes or quickly forgotten? If you chose to save yourselves, or perhaps each other, rather than completing your mission, would the village understand?” Kakashi is silent. He knew the answer, of course. The pomp and spectacle surrounding the will of fire had always disguised the truth at its core - that the village was one large family unit, superseding all other personal ties or allegiances that deviated from its national interests. To not prioritize this “family” would be the ultimate betrayal, and the stigma attached to such an act had driven his father to take his own life. Kakashi had accepted this truth and made peace with it a long time ago. Sasuke and Naruto clearly had not.

Haku turns to look directly at Sasuke. “You have the Uchiha crest on your back. The Uchihas held a powerful kekkei genkai. You must share the same experiences as me.”

“The Uchihas were respected, and still are,” Sasuke snarls. “Stop projecting onto me. There is one person responsible for my clan’s massacre, and I will be the one to kill him.”

“Itachi Uchiha, correct?” Haku smiles, and Kakashi’s blood runs cold. “I’ve tracked clan cullings in the five nations, looking for patterns. If Konoha had wanted thirteen year old Itachi dead after the massacre, then surely, he would be dead.”

Sasuke’s face is twisting with confusion and rage. “You,” he begins, quietly menacing, “have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“On the contrary. I think you are ignoring what is right in front of you.”

“Says the kid who thinks he chose to be some guy’s personal slave just because he feeds and clothes him or whatever!” Naruto steps in front of Sasuke, oddly defensive. “Let me tell you something! I’m gonna be hokage someday, and then I’ll _make_ people respect me. I’m not waiting around for some freak with no eyebrows to make me his minion so I can think I’m worth something.”

“If the village respects you after you become hokage,” Haku says, still calm, “then all that proves is their respect for the hokage position, not their respect for you. Valuing someone’s efficiency is not the same as valuing their personhood. I am willing to sacrifice myself for the person who has acknowledged me. You are willing to sacrifice yourself for the possibility of someday, maybe, attaining justice, of maybe being seen as a worthy tool. I am already a worthy tool. And that is the difference between us, despite our shared experiences.”

Sasuke and Naruto have fallen into a shocked and furious silence. Sakura looks between the two of them, uncomfortable. Kakashi pulls Naruto back by the shoulder as he opens his mouth to argue again.

“That’s enough, Naruto,” he says. “The point of an interrogation isn’t to let the hostage rile you. You need to leave. Sasuke, you too. Sakura and I will continue, and then we will set out to find Zabuza before he can find us.”

“This is a waste of my time anyway,” Sasuke bites out. Naruto seems to feel similarly, grumbling something about heading out to train more.

Haku retreats back into his silence for the rest of the interrogation. Sighing, Kakashi gets up. “Sakura, I want you to watch him for a bit. I’ll be right back, and then I’ll take over guard duty. He’s sealed and bound, he won’t escape.”

“I’ll handle it, Sensei!” Sakura says, clearly eager to take on any responsibility.

He heads out to find Sasuke.

“I thought I’d find you here,” he says casually, as Sasuke throws shuriken at a set of targets pinned to the trees.

“Is there something you need?” He asks, voice hard.

“Not really. You just seemed to get a bit worked up back there, that’s all.” Sasuke stiffens at his words, and Kakashi gauges him carefully.

“...He’s not wrong,” Sasuke says, after a long silence. “Itachi was strong. But they could’ve killed him. Back then, anyway,” he picks at a shuriken, “he might be too strong now.”

“You can’t begrudge Konoha for your brother’s crime,” Kakashi tells him. “They may not have done their level best to arrest him, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t respect the Uchiha. Haku is a hostage. He wanted to get in your head, that’s all.”

“I know that,” Sasuke snarls, But Kakashi had seen his face as Haku spoke, recognized the doubt.

“And remember that the village respects _you,_ Sasuke,” Kakashi says. He remembers the clan being monitored, segregated, resented when they were at large, but as the sole survivor since the age of seven, Sasuke had lead a very different existence. “You are more than your clan. People admire your skill, in the academy your peers were taught to emulate you. Anger at your village will do you no good, not when you have every opportunity to succeed. The village is our home, and we are better for protecting it.”

His words sound artificial to his own ears, because however much he may see himself in this child, in broad strokes if not in the details, he knows he cannot truly convince him if he has not convinced himself. Yet Sasuke’s shoulders seem to relax a bit.

“I already said I know,” he says, calmer. “Besides, I don’t care if the village hunts down Itachi or not. I don’t want them to do it.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because,” Sasuke’s kunai hits its target dead center, ”I’m the one who’s meant to kill him.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm switching back to alternate POVS for the next chapter, I think it comes more naturally to me. It only gets more canon divergent from here on out, and of course there will be more SNS. Let me know what you guys think!


	3. Bloodlines (Part 2)

“So you just bite into the tomato like that? Raw? You just bite into it?” Naruto is sitting cross legged on the kitchen floor, watching Sasuke make his way through his version of an afternoon snack.

“What of it?” 

 Naruto squints incredulously. “You are honestly so weird.” Sasuke ignores him to take another bite out of his tomato. “I mean _seriously_ , I have no idea why girls like you so much. You’re a total freak.”

 “Says the kid who inhales his weight in ramen every chance he gets - not that that means much,” Sasuke slides his gaze over to Naruto, carelessly, “considering what a runt you are.”

 “Hey!” Naruto flushes red to the tips of his ears as Sasuke turns back to finish his tomato, the barest glimpse of a smile on his face. Sakura holds Naruto back before he can lunge.

 “Will you calm down?” She growls. “Sasuke-kun can eat whatever he wants, it’s none of your business!” _Though it is weird. Just a little._

 Sakura recalls, in her haziest childhood memories, her first conception of how her life as a kunoichi would be. She’d always known she was smart - facts and figures easily embedded themselves in her mind, and she rarely missed a detail or a deadline. 

 It was understood throughout Konoha that life as a shinobi was the easiest pathway to notoriety, and this was something she craved. She imagined impressing her peers with her quick thinking, upstaging Ino in shuriken practice - upstaging Ino in everything, really, including winning over Sasuke-kun, a prospect which had become a competition among the girls of their year.

 But reality was hell bent on disappointing her. Reality was the dead weight of a kunai resting awkwardly in her hand. Reality was Naruto’s grating voice, too early in the morning, Haku’s disconcerting presence in the corner of Tazuna’s living room, Kakashi’s secrecy and distance. Reality was that Sasuke-kun...didn’t seem to like her much. Not the way she wanted him to, at any rate.

 “If you three are finished, we need to work more on our chakra control today.” Sakura looks behind her to see Kakashi, hands in his pockets, aloof as ever.

 “Didn't we already work on that, with the trees and everything? I wanna go find Zabuza!” Naruto cries out.

 “You're in no shape to fight Zabuza,” Kakashi says in a practiced, even tone. “You got lucky last time. Don't expect it to happen again.”

 Naruto grumbles and slouches back down on the floor. Next to him, Sasuke appears irritated as well.

 “Now Sakura, why don't you explain to us the principles of chakra manipulation again? Today we will work on focusing chakra to various points on our body.” 

 “Oh...sure,” Sakura mumbles. “I mean. Sure! I can do that, Sensei!” 

 She understands that explaining theoretical concepts has become her designated role within the team. She doesn't mind that much, not really. She _was_ the best at schoolwork between the three of them.

  _And Sasuke and Naruto will fight without me anyway._

 “Well, there are several laws of chakra that all shinobi must memorize,” she recites, recalling Iruka-sensei’s approving smile when she had been the only student to ace his pop quiz on chakra, “the first being that chakra can be molded into five basic elements, the second being that chakra supplies are finite, and can only be controlled through regular training, and the third…”

 She can’t help but falter, noticing Naruto zoning out.

 “Idiot,” Sasuke says lightly, scuffing Naruto over the head, and Sakura tries to ignore the envious churning in her gut.

* * *

On occasion, Sasuke finds himself startled awake by vivid nightmares.

 He’d thought he had it under control. His hallucinations had certainly abated over the years as well. Yet the encounter with Zabuza had drawn them out in full force. _I really considered it,_ he thinks. _Ending it right then and there._ It unnerves him, the unpredictability of his thoughts in the face of death and violence. 

 He walks outside to clear his head. The moon seems to hang low in the sky, as if brushing the tops of the trees, and he’s reminded of how imposing it had seemed when him and Naruto had practiced chakra control together the other night. 

 He isn’t surprised to see Naruto back at the training grounds, again.

 “You should go to bed,” He tells him. Naruto looks back in surprise. “You need to rest between training sessions like that. We already made it to the top yesterday.”

 “So what?” Naruto says, grinning. “Maybe you’re too chicken, but I wanna do it again.”

 He scrambles up a tree, legs shaky from exhaustion. Sasuke sighs. He doesn’t know why he bothers to look out for him like this. _Someone has to,_ he reasons.

 “Come on,” he calls out, as Naruto slips and barely catches himself. “Let’s do some sparring.”

 Naruto perks up at this offer. It’s no secret that he’s desperate to beat Sasuke. Sasuke supposes he understands. He _was_ much better than Naruto in virtually every aspect.

 Naruto wastes no time in lunging at him, but his movements are sloppy, barely calculated. Sasuke dodges easily, and pushes him back with a swift kick to the chest. Naruto charges in again, but Sasuke catches his fist.

 “You can’t just go in full force, with no plan, if you want to win a fight,” he says. He flips Naruto over and watches him land with a dull thud on his back. He struggles to get back up. Sasuke digs his knee into his stomach and aims a fist at his face, but doesn’t punch him.

 “See? You’ve already lost,” He says simply. Naruto fumes.

 “I thought this was a sparring match, not a lecture.”

 “It would’ve just been a sparring match, if you didn’t so obviously need the lecture.”

 “You really think you’re so much better than everyone, don’t you?” Naruto snarls. Sasuke stands up and dusts himself off. 

 “Not really. But I’m better at fighting than you. Maybe you should learn to take some advice.”

 Naruto charges at him again, and Sasuke easily upsets his balance by sweeping a kick over his ankles. He falls again.

 “You’re tired from all the tree climbing,” Sasuke tells him. “Take a break. It’s not even fun fighting you like this.”

 “Because you know so much about fun,” Naruto replies, rolling his eyes. “Anyway - wait! Come back! One more round!”

 “I already told you, you’re too tired - “

 “Well I can’t sleep anyway, not with that kid crying all the time!”

 Sasuke blinks. “Who, Inari?”

 “Yeah! You can’t tell me it doesn’t piss you off, listening to him whining and complaining!”

 Inari was Tazuna’s grandson, who spent most of his time in his room, only making his presence known when he wanted to criticize their training methods or sob over an absent man’s portrait. His stepfather, who had died at the hands of Gato’s henchman, according to Tazuna. He did piss Sasuke off, but he was capable of tuning him out. Naruto, on the other hand, seemed to jump on every chance to pick a pointless fight.

 “He’s just some stupid kid. Ignore him. You already got into a fight with him at dinner last night. Kakashi even had to go out and talk to him. Why do you care so much?”

 “Because I can’t stand him walking around crying, like he’s the first person to ever have a problem!” Naruto snaps at him. “Between him and that Haku kid, I’m just - “

 He cuts off suddenly, as if he’s said too much. 

 “What’s Haku got to do with this?” Sasuke asks stiffly, irate at the mere mention of his name.

 Naruto hesitates before answering. “All that crap he said about me wanting to be hokage... _if they respect you once you become hokage, all that proves is their respect for the hokage position,_ ” Naruto recites in a shrill, inaccurate imitation of Haku’s toneless voice, “what the hell is that supposed to mean, anyway?” He’s moved onto shuriken practice now, aiming with unnecessary force and missing his targets. “All I know is when I become hokage, I’ll _make_ people respect me! I won’t sit around crying like Inari!”

 “Hn. You might wanna try learning to actually land your targets first.”

 Naruto pauses for a moment and grits his teeth. “Whatever,” he says finally, throwing another shuriken. 

 In truth, Naruto’s need for approval had always confounded Sasuke. His own admirers had never seemed to be more than fickle irritants, pestering him for attention and distracting him from his goals. But he thinks of parents pulling their children close when Naruto passed by. Teachers reprimanding him with a pointed intensity. He thinks that he knows what it is to feel shapeless and scattered, defined solely by a distant ambition.

 “Fine,” He says. “We can spar one more round.”

 They end up sparring five more rounds. Sasuke wins each time, but in their final round, Naruto catches him off guard, for just one second, and lands a hit.

 “I got you…” He says, in disbelief. And then, more excitedly, “I really got you! I almost won! How’s that feel?”

 “It was barely a punch,” Sasuke grumbles, trying not to wince at the aching pain in his stomach, where Naruto had hit him. 

 “Sore loser,” Naruto says. His grin is unsettling. Brilliant. _Irritating,_ Sasuke corrects himself. Annoyed by his own thoughts, he grabs Naruto’s arm and twists it, smirking as he cries out.

 “Okay, you got one hit in. Don’t expect it to happen again.” He lets Naruto go, watching as he rubs his arm and glares back at him.

 “Bastard,” Naruto mutters. “I really will pummel you next time! Don’t underestimate me!”

 Their bickering continues all the way to Tazuna’s house, even when they’re inside, letting up only once Sakura snaps at them from the other room to _shut up already, some of us are trying to sleep!_

 Sasuke isn’t sure why, exactly, his sleep is so calm and dreamless that night. 

* * *

 The following day is uncharacteristically hot for Wave Country. The air is thick and heavy with moisture, and the humidity does nothing to soothe Naruto’s already fraying temper.

 He takes in the meal in front of him - onigiri, burdock root, steamed fish. Kakashi had left to guard Tazuna as he worked on the bridge, Inari was at school. and Inari’s mother was in the garden. It was just him, Sasuke, Sakura, and a heavily bound Haku. _Which means no one’s around to tell me what to do,_ Naruto thinks. 

 “Bet I can eat more than you, Sasuke!” He says, grinning. Riling Sasuke up usually made things more interesting. Though currently, Sasuke isn’t looking at him or even at the food, but is hunched over a book with Sakura, at the corner of the room. 

 “Oi, Sasuke!” He calls out again. Sasuke turns, his face pinched with annoyance. 

 “I’m busy, go bother someone else for once.” He turns back to the book, and Naruto feels oddly dejected. He tries to think of another way to get Sasuke’s attention when Haku’s voice cuts through his thoughts. 

 “You know, you’re an awfully messy eater.” He says conversationally. Naruto squints at him. 

 Although one of his hands and both his ankles were still bound, along with his chakra being heavily sealed, Haku had been ungagged and allowed his other hand to eat meals three times a day. He sat contorted across the table, picking at his steamed fish delicately, as if he were a guest and not a prisoner.

 “Sorry, was I talking to you? I don’t think so! So go be creepy somewhere else.” Naruto makes a point to take a messy bite out of his onigiri, and glowers at Haku.

 He only smiles back. “I was merely making small talk. It’s only polite, you know.” He places the fish in his mouth with surprising grace, considering the awkward position he has been placed in.

 Naruto is about to retort when Sakura interrupts him.

 “Naruto will you shut up for a minute, we’re trying to take a look at something,” she snaps.

 “Oh yeah? And what’s so important all of a sudden that you and Sasuke need everyone to sit in perfect silence?”

 “They’re researching clan cullings,” Haku says, and everyone turns to look at him.

 “You’ve been spying on us,” Sasuke growls, and Haku smiles serenely.

 “Not really, you two just aren’t very subtle when you whisper. It makes sense. I suppose my words from the other day left quite an impression.”

 “How does this help with the mission?” Naruto grumbles. 

 “It’s not about the mission, usuratonkachi, it’s because I’ve got stuff I’m curious about,” Sasuke replies stiffly. He faces Haku. 

 “I want to know more,” He says. “About clan cullings in Kiri. I don’t think our circumstances were the same, but maybe Itachi - “ Sasuke bites out his name like a curse, “was somehow connected to people who did things like this - I just - I never understood why he would…” He trails off.

 Haku watches him impassively, and places his chopsticks down.

 “My clan were the Yuki,” He says. “Our kekkei genkai was manipulating ice and water into specific...structures. It’s hard to explain unless you’ve seen it.” He takes a sip of his water with his free hand. “And then there’s the Hozuki, not wiped out exactly, but frequently captured and experimented on. The presence of specialized bloodline traits in a clan made us feared, and reviled, even if our power was coveted.” 

 Haku raises his eyes to meet Sasuke’s. “Does any of this sound familiar to you?”

 Sasuke shakes his head. “It must truly have just been my brother, then. The Uchiha were respected. I can attest to that.”

 “On what basis?”

 “We were placed in charge of law enforcement, “ Sasuke says. “Not all of it, not ANBU or anything like that, but...we were police officers.” 

 A smile plays on Haku’s lips. “You don’t know much about your village’s history, do you?”

 “What’s that supposed to mean?”

 Haku shrugs, the best he can with his body still bound. “I believe it’s best I let you to come to your own conclusions.”

 “But...what’s the point?” Sakura asks. “Killing off kekkei genkai users - aren’t they useful to the hidden villages?” 

 Naruto can’t help but snort a bit at that. People’s biases were hardly rational, even he understood that much. But Haku answers patiently, regardless.

 “Well, of course,” says Haku. “They were used as mercenaries during every major war. The myths and sense of danger configured around them during these periods never faded. So afterwards, they were feared, or alternatively, regarded as...precious items to be collected.” 

 “So were they like...sold?” Sakura says, clear revulsion in her voice.

 “Sometimes,” Haku replies. “The trade of individuals possessing kekkei genkai, or the extraction of the kekkei genkai itself, if possible, is one of the most profitable, underground industries. Gato, the man after your bridge builder, makes quite a bit of money off of it.”

 “You mean the man that freak Zabuza works for?” Naruto says scathingly. 

 “Zabuza is Gato’s tool, just as I am his tool.” Haku responds. “Call it what you will - corrupt, selfish - but every mission you will be assigned as a leaf shinobi will hardly be for the greater good.”

 “You don’t know anything about the leaf village!” Naruto stands up, slamming his hands on the table. “Old man third would _never_ \- “

 “Why is your sensei hiding the danger of this mission from your Hokage?” Haku asks. “I haven’t seen any jounin around, as would be sensible. Because your bridge builder could not afford them, correct?”

 “That’s - “ Naruto stutters, “what does that have to do with anything?”

 “Meaning,” Haku begins patiently, “your missions are determined by profit, not morality. If your client pays enough, you will work for them. If not, it does not matter how noble their goal may be. They will be rejected. Zabuza is the same. He took a loan from Gato, and now he is in debt to him. So he must take on assignments, and accept Gato as his client. I can assure you, your village would not be opposed to taking someone like him on as a client either, with a higher ranked shinobi than you.”

 A heavy silence descends upon them.

 “Well,” Sakura says. “This is all a bit pointless then, isn’t it?” 

 Every pair of eyes in the room is on her. “What are you talking about?” Sasuke says, and Sakura recoils nervously from the sudden attention.

 “I just mean that - well, Haku’s working for Gato because he can’t pay off Zabuza’s debt, and we’re working for the bridge builder to protect him from Gato, and, well…wouldn’t it be better for all of us if he was dead?”

 Naruto smiles widely, understanding her meaning. Sasuke smirks at her, clearly impressed. Haku looks contemplative. 

 “How much are the three of you willing to risk?” He asks seriously.

 “Oh please,” says Naruto. “I’ve been looking for some real action since I got here.”

* * *

They leave in the dead of night, once they’re certain Kakashi has fallen asleep.

 “I still think we should let sensei know,” Sakura says fearfully, having second thoughts. Sasuke brushes her off.

 “If he knows, he’ll never let us go. He’ll just make sure we’re cooped up in that house forever.”

 “Yeah and besides, I took care of it Sakura-chan!” Naruto chirps. “I’ve got shadow clones replacing us!”

 Sure enough, four shadow clones have been placed in Tazuna’s house, transformed into each of them with surprising accuracy. Haku’s was even bound, and placed at the corner of the room.

 “He’s a Jōnin, he’ll figure it out eventually, Naruto!” She whispers harshly. 

 “We’ll already have kicked Gato’s ass by then,” Naruto replies, grinning.

 “We need to get going,” Haku says bluntly. His chakra is sealed, but they have unbound him in exchange for his cooperation. The ropes previously constricting him now bind his replacement shadow clone.

  _I’m smarter than this,_ Sakura thinks. This plan was rife with holes, with potential failures. Unlike Naruto, who never turned down the opportunity for a fight, or Sasuke, always testing his strength, she knew and respected her limits. She knew this could only end badly.

 Yet a small, hungry part of her wants to see those looks again, impressed and taken aback by her, when she’d suggested they go after Gato. She wanted to be seen, rather being relegated to observing in silence. 

 Haku leads them through a path in the woods. The night air is humid still, and Sakura wipes damp, sweaty hair away from her forehead.

 “The plan is simple,” Haku says quietly, as he leads them. “I will take you to Gato’s private chambers. He has guards, all non-shinobi, who we can take out fairly quickly. I will slit his throat, then raid his room for valuables. Zabuza will have the funding he requires and your mission of securing the bridge builder’s safety will be successful. We will all have what we want, and go our separate ways.” 

  _Oh yeah, super easy._ Sakura thinks furiously. _We just aid in robbery, and murder, of one of the richest, most notable guys in the country, and it'll all just end up nicely._

 Naruto has other objections.

 “Why can't _I_ finish off Gato?” He demands to know.

 Haku smiles in response. “You would not have the stomach for it.”

 Naruto looks indignant. “And why the hell would you say that?”

 “Do you want the entire list?” Sasuke says dryly, clearly enjoying himself.

 Sakura’s unease grows as the boys bicker in front of her. Why was this all just - a _game_ to them? Were they so eager to prove themselves that they'd throw common sense to the wind?

 She grabs Sasuke's sleeve, tugging him closer to her. 

 “I think this is a bad idea,” she says, in a hushed whisper. “He could be leading us straight into a trap, you realize that, right?”

 “Obviously, I considered that,” Sasuke replies, harshly pulling his sleeve out of her hand. “But we can take him, if it comes to that. So pipe down, we don't need him to hear you and get the wrong idea.” 

  _But we don't even know his skill set_ , Sakura wants to say, but she keeps quiet, not wanting to annoy Sasuke.

 They trudge through the woods for what feels like an eternity, until Haku nods his head in the direction of a grey, mundane building.

 “So what, do you expect us to just - just walk in through the front door?” Sakura sputters.

 “No,” says Haku. “We take an underground path. Zabuza and I mapped out escape routes in case we ever needed to abandon our task discreetly.” 

  _How do we know you're not leading us right into some kind of trap?_ Sakura thinks. But Naruto and Sasuke walk forward without a second thought, and so she swallows her doubt, not wanting to be left behind.

 There's a gasp and the sound of a brief scuffle as they turn a corner. They see Haku, standing over two unconscious guards with senbon stuck in their necks. The same trick he had used with Zabuza.

 “They're just unconscious,” he tells them. _It would be that easy for him to knock us out_ , is what Sakura understands. 

  _Maybe Sasuke could dodge them. Maybe. And Naruto could distract Haku with shadow clones. And I could…_

 Her stomach constricts with anxiety.

 They pass through one corridor, and the next, into a room piled with packages and lined with walls of jars containing inscrutable objects, some white, some blood red, gleaming like jewels. 

 “He keeps his underground storage supplies in here,” Haku whispers. “It's the room in this building guards are least likely to pass through, as only a select few know it exists.” 

  _Great tour, very informative_ , Sakura thinks bitingly, _Now can we please get this done so we can all go home?_  

 She tries to move forward, but bumps into Sasuke, who has stopped dead in his tracks.

 “Sasuke, what - “ She’s cut off when she follows his line of vision, to the rows of jars she had passed by with a casual glance.

 Not jewels, not any sort of precious metals. Placed across the walls in neat, structured lines, are hundreds of lifeless sharingan eyes.

 Sakura peaks over at Sasuke, nervously, watching as his face contorts with rage.

 “They kept this from me,” he says, and she flinches at the venom in his voice.

 “It’s an underground trade, remember?” She tries to sound assuring. “I don’t think - the Third and everyone couldn’t know, Sasuke, they - “

 “The ANBU collected the corpses!” He snaps at her, not bothering to keep his voice low.

 “I understand you are upset, but you need to be calm,” Haku says, oddly unmoved. Sasuke whips around towards him.

 “Did you plan this? Was it some kind of sick game to you?”

 “Wait, guys, look at this!” Naruto has his hands cupped around a jar. “Naruto, don’t touch that!” Sakura pulls him away, but not before catching sight of the label. Addressed towards Oto, from Konoha.

 The panic must have been evident on her face, because Sasuke steps in front of her and picks up a jar, glaring back at her as if daring her to forbid him.

 “This is addressed from Konoha,” He snarls. “And this,” he picks up another jar, “is a Byakugan. For Kumo.”

 Sure enough, the blank eye with protruding veins is a byakugan. _But why would a kekkei genkai from our village be sent to the Cloud? Or send sharingan eyes to the Sound?_ Sakura thinks.

 “The Third couldn’t have known!” Naruto shouts, determined. “He’s not like that, Sasuke! You know that.” 

 “I told you all to be quiet,” Haku whispers urgently, but it’s too late. Sakura can hear three figures approaching them, likely alerted by the noise. She lifts up her kunai, but somehow the act only compounds her fear. She’s not prepared to sink a weapon into flesh, to watch it come apart and bleed. 

 Naruto produces a set of shadow clones. Sasuke activates his sharingan - _when did he figure that out,_ Sakura thinks - and Haku, to their collective surprise, performs a one handed seal.

 “How are you doing that?” She asks. Haku doesn’t so much as turn around to look at her.

 “I undid the seals your Sensei placed upon me,” He replies. 

 Sakura’s heart sinks. If Haku had known all along how to undo his seals, there was no reason for him to fake being sealed unless he was setting up a trap. She looks at Sasuke from the corner of his eye, and from the brief, tense glance he throws Haku, she is certain he’s thinking along the same lines. Naruto, on the other hand, is absorbed in the oncoming fight.

 Shuriken whistle past them, and Sakura deflects the best she can with her kunai. One of Naruto’s shadow clones pulls her out of the way, when one flies too close by. Behind her, Haku seems to have rendered some sort of icy needles - _his kekkei genkai,_ she realizes - and lodges them at their attackers. 

 The needles pierce one of the guards, tall and brutish, in the shoulder. He winces, but picks them out and flings them away without a second thought. “Well,” he says gruffly, “it’s obvious who we’ll need to take out first here.”

 They close in around Haku. From there, it’s as if they act on instinct - Sakura shields his body and holds her kunai up in defense, Sasuke destabilizes one of the guards from behind with a harsh kick and slashes another across the knee, and Naruto’s clones pile onto the third to prevent him from a finishing blow. 

 She’s not sure why they are helping him. From the fleeting surprise in Haku’s eyes, she can tell he isn’t sure either.

 With the guards temporarily subdued, they run towards the entrance from which they arrived, swift and never looking back.

* * *

 It’s becoming apparent they are in over their heads.

 Sakura is hobbling. It occurs to Sasuke that she twisted her ankle, some time in their mad dash out of the building. Naruto has a deep gash across his cheek. Haku is unharmed. _Thanks to us,_ Sasuke thinks, bitterly. _If he was faking being sealed, he was definitely going to betray us. If we’d been using our heads, we’d have let the guards take him and made a run for it._

 They find a secluded corner in the woods and build a small fire, sitting in empty silence. 

 The entire plan had been doomed to fail from the start. But Sasuke had been so eager to finally put his skills to test, without endless hours spent guarding a hostage, without Kakashi’s careful monitoring.

 Thinking of Kakashi infuriates him. 

 “That’s how he got his eye,” He says firmly. Naruto looks at him in surprise, and Sakura seems uncomfortable, which only urges him to continue. “From a dead Uchiha. They sell them, and he bought one. That’s how it happened.”

 “We shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” Sakura says, with a forced sweetness he detests. He doesn’t mind her, doesn’t want to antagonize her, but he can’t help the way she grates on his nerves at times. Oblivious, naive in a way even Naruto wasn’t. 

 “Either way, they’ve been hiding things from me, Sakura. Someone extracted sharingan eyes. They desecrated corpses. Why the hell would they do that to a clan they respect?” 

 There is an uneasy silence, before Naruto speaks. Sasuke notices that, just like with his earlier wound he’d inflicted on his hand, the gash on his cheek is healing with unnatural speed.

 “...They hid stuff from me too,” He says, reluctant. “They...well...you know how people in the village don’t really like me. They always acted like I did something wrong and I didn’t know why.” He looks at the fire stubbornly, refusing to meet their eyes. “It’s because...the nine tails, that attacked our village all those years ago. It’s sealed inside me.”

 Sakura audibly gasps. Haku quirks his head, taken aback for once. Sasuke is shocked, but that is quickly usurped by the jealousy that shoots through him. If Naruto, dead last that he was, was the nine tail’s jinchuuriki, then he had the most potential out of anyone in their group. It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t.

 But his jealousy is tempered by a different, softer emotion, when he sees how Naruto’s hands shake a bit as he resumes speaking.

 “All I’m saying is...they do hide stuff, Sakura. And I don’t think the Third and Kakashi-sensei know, they’re not like that! But some people can be. That’s all.” 

 Sakura looks guilty, and Sasuke feels a strange satisfaction at that. _He doesn’t have parents you know, that’s why he acts like that,_ he remembers her saying. She hesitates a bit before she also speaks.

 “I’m sorry, Naruto,” she says, and it’s sincere. “And maybe I don’t know about a lot of the stuff that you guys do know about. Maybe I’m...wrong.” She picks at the edge of her dress, and to Sasuke’s discomfort, tears well up in her eyes. “I was the number one student at the academy, remember? But nothing they taught prepared me for any of this. All I’ve done on this assignment is hold up a kunai and get scared. I don’t know how to do this. I don’t even know why I signed up.” Tears stream down her face. 

 It was true that being a shinobi was a choice, that living by their code was not mandatory. But it was also true that being a shinobi brought you esteem like nothing else, that the shinobi code was the philosophy their village lived by. That they entered the academy at the mere age of seven, drawn to the spectacle of the career, not truly grasping the violence that accompanied it. 

 To Sasuke's surprise, Haku speaks next.

 “I never wanted to live as a shinobi. To fight and kill,” he says quietly, “When I first discovered my kekkei genkai, I would go outside and I would play with it. Make shapes. I didn't want to use it to hurt. I just thought it was beautiful.”

 He pauses, as if afraid to say more, but plows forward anyway. 

 “Afterwards, when I was with Zabuza, I tried to use it in the same way. To make beautiful things. But it didn't feel good anymore. Like - like these things belonged to the past me, someone who no longer existed. Like I was trying to bring back something that had died.” 

 Haku suddenly appears uncharacteristically self conscious.

 “It must seem strange,” He says, bashfully. Sakura shakes her head furiously, and Sasuke almost rolls his eyes at the artificiality of the gesture. 

 “No - no Haku, it makes sense!” She chirps. Naruto nods vigorously next to her, clearly just as lost. Sasuke sighs.

 “I get it.” He says. They all turn to look at him in surprise. He only meets Haku’s eyes. 

 Because in the vivid canopy of stars above them, Sasuke can still pick out constellations. Itachi’s constellations. _That's Washi, the eagle, that's Kani, the crab,_ he’d tell him. Sasuke would laugh in delight and ask him to show him more. After everything had occurred, Sasuke had tried to recapture that sense of calm, in the patterns of the night sky. But there was no longer any light there, not the way he remembered. He lay there feeling lost, displaced, longing not only for a person but a time, a place he could never return to. A comfort he would never experience again.

 “Really,” he says, not shifting his gaze. “I get it.” 

* * *

In hindsight, they had become too relaxed, too at ease in the intimacy of their conversation. Too certain that a mercenary’s tool could so easily change.

 Sasuke wakes up to Sakura vigorously shaking him.

 “Haku’s gone,” she says, and to his surprise, she is angry. “He’s gone, and. I _tried_ to tell you! We can’t predict what he’s gonna do!”

 “What’s going on,” Naruto says sleepily, across from them. 

 “Haku disappeared,” Sakura bites out. “Any more bright ideas? Should we go and fight Zabuza by ourselves next?”

 Sasuke glances blearily around him, and curses. Haku truly was gone without a trace.

“Calm down, Sakura,” He says, his voice hard. “We go back to Tazuna’s, we explain everything to Kakashi. We’ll live, it’s just an inconvenience - “ 

 He’s cut off by an explosive tag pinned to kunai, landing in between them.

 “What the hell?” Naruto screams, scrambling out of the way. Sakura shrieks and attempts to shield herself with her arms, as Sasuke quickly grabs the kunai and tosses it back in the direction of their attacker. 

 “Nice move, kid.” Sasuke’s heart stops as he realizes the voice belongs to Zabuza. Sure enough, he’s caught the kunai and performed a seal to disable the tag. He flips the kunai in his hand, casually.

 “Kakashi’s looking for you all, by the way,” He chuckles. “Kakashi was a goddamn ANBU for years. You think he didn’t notice you all left within an hour? Luckily, Haku here,” He smirks at something behind them, and Sasuke jumps as he realizes Haku is standing there, staring coldly ahead, “He’s got a real talent for disguising chakra signatures. All he had to do was lead you around for a while, then release a few of these tags to let me know his location, the way we’ve planned in the case of a separation.” His smirks grows wider. “But the best part was, according to him, you all actually shielded him. Why the hell did you all become ninja?”

 Sasuke doesn’t let him speak further before attacking, but it’s no use. His shuriken is easily deflected with Zabuza’s massive blade.

 “Anyway,” Zabuza continues talking, as if nothing had happened, “Kakashi’s almost here, and I think it’s time I go face him. Haku, do me a favor and finish off the brats.”

 “Certainly,” Haku responds, and suddenly they are engulfed in a cold mist.

 It is too early in the day for visible sunlight, and Sasuke can see very little in the light of faint rays peaking out from behind the horizon. Thick trees obscure his vision further, and before he knows it, he’s surrounded by what appear to be mirrors. He hears Sakura screaming his name, and barks at her to hide. _Where’s Naruto,_ he wonders, frantic. If him and Sakura could somehow find an opening to attack from the outside, they could at least finish Haku before Zabuza got here. 

 His thoughts are cut short when Haku barrages him with needles, brutal and abrupt.

 For a long moment there is only him, the brittle chill emanating from the walls of ice around him, the needles piercing his skin, the fog warping the world outside the enclosure. 

 Then suddenly, he sees it - a blur of orange, cutting through the fog, too vivid to belong to any practical shinobi.

 Darting right towards the enclosure.

 “You idiot!” Sasuke hisses. “What the hell do you think you’re accomplishing?”

 “I came in to rescue you!” Naruto tells him excitedly. His eyes are stupidly, unnervingly bright. Sasuke wants to shake him.

 “You would’ve had a better chance of that attacking from the outside! Try using your head for once.”

 “Maybe if you weren’t getting your ass kicked, I wouldn’t have rushed in here in the first place!” Naruto bites back. Sasuke wants to respond, again, before he remembers where they are. 

  _What is wrong with me?_ He thinks. How did Naruto manage to get under his skin even now, at a time like this?

 Haku is watching them coolly. Sasuke wonders distantly why they aren’t dead yet.

 He glances over at Naruto. He was usually way in over his head when fighting. Spontaneous bursts of creativity aside, he had essentially one move, and tricks like kage bunshin weren’t about to fool a shinobi like Haku, or do much more than provide a distraction. His bravado was little more than a smokescreen.

 “Naruto, listen to me,” he says, trying to keep the creeping panic out of his voice. For all their arguing, Naruto looks up at him, eyes wide and reluctantly trusting. 

 “I need you to do your kage bunshin jutsu again. Produce as many as you can, and just let me handle the rest.” He expects resistance, but to his surprise Naruto jumps up eagerly to produce his clones, as if it was enough just to be taken seriously.

 As Naruto’s clones barrage the icy enclosure, Sasuke searches for an opening. Minutes evaporate like mist, and soon his world narrows to just this - the thin walls of needles, Naruto behind him, clumsy and reckless, and the rare, subtle tremor in Haku’s movements. He can’t afford to think of anything else. With reluctance, he activates his sharingan. It would be stupid to hold back.

 It almost feels like victory is inevitable, when he hears the blunt thud of Naruto’s body collapsing behind him.

 “Naruto!” He cries. “You need to get up, I can’t just protect you in here!”

 “Didn’t ask for your protection,” Naruto grumbles, and it’s ridiculous, considering he can barely move.

 Sasuke wills himself to focus, as if there is nothing outside this enclosure. Just him and Naruto, and the needles. He feels a sharp burning in his eye that he can only assume is the development of another tomoe.

 For a brief, exhilarating moment, Haku falters, and Sasuke thinks, _I’ve got him_ , before realizing Haku is not directing his attention towards him at all.

 He is barely thinking as he jumps in front of him, barely managing to knock Haku out as hundreds of needles pierce through his body.

 “You beat ‘em Sasuke!” He hears Naruto cry out happily from behind him. “I knew you would, you - Sasuke?”

 He can feel Naruto taking in his wounds, and feels the need to taunt him, anything to dispel the heaviness between them.

 “You always get in my way,” he tells him. “You really are an idiot, you know that?”

 For once, Naruto isn’t interested in responding to his goading. “Why?” Naruto demands. “Why would you save me?”

 It’s a good question. He doesn’t like the answer. All these years, fortifying himself into the kind of person who could kill his own brother. All that effort thrown away because he couldn’t bear to watch Naruto die.

 “I have no idea,” he says. “My body just moved.”

 He legs give out, and he collapses into Naruto’s arms, which would be mortifying if he wasn’t in too much pain to care.

 “My brother’s still out there,” he says, feeling oddly calm. The blood loss must be getting to him. “Itachi. I wanted to kill him, but I don’t think I’ll get to...stop crying, it makes you look stupid.” Naruto furiously wipes his tears away, and Sasuke wishes he wouldn’t cry at all. That’s not how he wants to see Naruto before he dies. He wanted to see his smile. Did Naruto realize how much he liked his smile? He’d never know now, and Sasuke can’t decide how he feels about that. 

 “Just...don’t die,” he tells him, and the world goes black. 

* * *

 There is red chakra seeping from the edges of Haku’s ice mirrors.

 Kakashi’s first response upon discovering his students had left had been exasperation. Had they really thought they could hide leaving from him, a former ANBU? _Why did I get assigned the reckless hotheads,_ he’d thought. But his annoyance had quickly morphed into panic when he discovered Haku had also left, and that he could barely track his team’s chakra signatures, with some strange jutsu overlaying them. 

  _Please don’t let me be too late._

 His panic had subsided just slightly when he’d seen Sakura hiding at the edge of the woods, and Zabuza awaiting him, not bothering with harming what he obviously perceived as an ineffective genin. But their fight had been cut short by the telltale signs of a bijuu released. 

  _The Third made it clear that the chances of Naruto breaking the seal were one in a million,_ Kakashi thinks. What could possibly have triggered it now?

 It's then that he sees it. Sasuke’s unconscious body, pierced through with needles, barely visible through the slivers of space between the mirrors. Naruto was behind him, curiously unharmed.

  _Of course,_ Kakashi thinks. He had disobeyed orders to give Naruto his food, knowing it meant the potential death of his career. He had failed to complete his mission by killing Haku when he had the chance, choosing instead to protect his friend. _Those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum._ In the back of his mind, Kakashi _feels_ more than sees Obito’s face, splitting into an indomitable smile. 

 “You need to get your boy away from there,” Kakashi tells Zabuza.

 “He’ll handle it,” Zabuza says, smirking, and Kakashi feels sick.

 With little buildup, the ice shatters. An explosive, violent chakra emerges. Naruto is in the center, and Sasuke's body lies at his feet, untouched by the kyuubi’s corrosive energy. 

 “Was it worth it, you piece of shit?” Naruto is asking Haku. He leaps forward, his features morphing into something not quite human.

 “I’ve failed Zabuza,” Haku says plainly, unconcerned with the danger surrounding him. The boy looks helpless, lost.

 He makes no attempt to defend himself when Naruto swipes at his chest, causing blood to leak profusely.

 “Was killing him worth serving your master?” Naruto asks with a cold hostility Kakashi had not known he was capable of. He swipes at Haku again, as he simply accepts the second wound. 

 “I am Zabuza’s tool,” he says. “I have always been clear on that. And you know you're no different from me.”

 “Keep telling yourself that,” Naruto says fiercely. 

 Zabuza swings his sword towards Kakashi heavily, snapping him out of his reverie. 

 “Don’t get so distracted,” He mocks as he performs a hand seal. Kakashi quickly mimics his jutsu, turning it back at him. Distantly, he notices Sakura fleeing her hiding place to attend to Sasuke’s unconscious body, pulling out needles in panic

 “You take orders, just as I do. You take them without questioning them. You take them in the hopes that one day, you will be valued, “ Haku is telling Naruto. “And I don’t blame you. I would have killed you, if I had to, to defend my master. It’s only natural.”

 “Shut the fuck up,” Naruto snarls. He lunges forward, but Haku conjures his mirrors once again, despite knowing they only provide temporary protection against the kyuubi.

 Kakashi quickly disables Zabuza’s arms, slitting across his elbows and shoulders. He cries out in pain as Kakashi fires up his finishing attack.

 “I’ll let you kill me,” Haku says. “But not quite yet.” And before Kakashi knows it, he has wedged himself between his and Zabuza’s fight, with no hesitation. He has already set up his jutsu - his chidori, of lethal proportions, meant for assassination, on the verge of plunging through the heart of a child.

 He swerves it away just in time.

 Zabuza laughs. “Good work, Haku,” he says, as a master calls to his pet. Naruto’s bijuu chakra hasn’t faded, but his rage is now directed at a different target.

 “You would’ve let him die for you,” He quakes with rage. 

 “It’s his choice, kid,” Zabuza replies. Haku doesn’t move. “If anyone makes a move against Zabuza, they will have to go through me. That is absolute.”

 “So what,” Naruto snaps, eyes shining with tears. “You’ll kill yourself just on the off chance he might feel something for you? You even killed Sasuke - “

 “Naruto!” Sakura cries out. “He has a pulse, I can feel it!” 

  _Unbelievable,_ thought Kakashi. Haku’s face is blank, betraying nothing. Naruto’s face, on the other hand, is painfully open.

 “Haku,” he begins, calmer now, bijuu chakra fading. “You’re wrong about yourself. You wouldn’t have spared him if you were nothing but a tool!”

 “Kakashi, tell your kid to shut the hell up, or I’ll shut him first,” Zabuza says. 

 “Coward,” Naruto spits out, and Zabuza flinches. “Haku told us you were in debt. Is that what it all comes down to? You were screwed over, so you screwed someone else over to make your life easier? Well, I’ve been at the bottom my entire life, and I would never use someone like that. Coward.” 

 They are bold words, spoken to a man who could rip him in half even without functioning arms. Yet it is the mercenary, not the child, who looks away. 

 They settle into uneasy tension. Kakashi tries to mentally map out how he can get around Haku and go for the kill, when the sound of footsteps interrupts his thoughts.

 “Lost already? You really are useless, aren’t you Zabuza.” In front of them is a short, stout man in a suit, surrounded by armed guards. His face was familiar, and Kakashi realizes he recognizes him from photos. Gato. “We were alerted by a disturbance in one of our buildings, and look what we found. You had one job, and you’re standing around getting screamed at by some kid.”

 He gestures towards his guards. “New plan. My men will finish them, and you’ll go patch yourself up to pay off your debt some other way. I’m being generous, here.” 

 Zabuza moves, reluctant and clearly humiliated, towards Gato. Kakashi calculates his plan of action for eliminating Gato’s men - all non-Shinobi, unlikely to be major threats to him even with his depleted chakra - before a surge of icy needles pierces several through the heart.

 “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Zabuza says harshly. Haku is unmoved.

 “I’m cleaning up your mess,” he replies. He charges in, and within seconds Gato’s men are besieged with the most graceful display of violence Kakashi has ever witnessed. With movements more akin to a dance than to battle, Haku subdues each of the men, often several at a time. Ice crawls up their bodies, freezing them and cutting off their circulation. In one final move, Haku transmutes his ice into a knife, slitting Gato’s throat.

 There is a gurgling, hysterical scream. There is the sound of bodies hitting the ground. And then, there is no sound at all.

* * *

 Zabuza fled, sometime after the fight, avoiding any chance of Kakashi killing him. _Makes sense,_ Naruto thinks. _Spineless freak._

 Haku, however, sits across from them in Tazuna’s living room. His eyes are dull and empty. But he makes no attempt to leave.

 “Do you know where you’re gonna go after this?” Naruto asks. 

 “I might try to find others like me. With bloodline traits they were persecuted for,” Haku takes a spoonful of his porridge. “I’ll see what happens, I suppose.”

 “What...made you change you mind?”

 Haku is silent for a moment. “It was your words, in part. But also...the three of you protected me, when you had no reason to. When I was nothing but a hindrance to your mission.” He looks down at his plate. “You helped me when I was of no use to you. It felt different.” 

 Naruto’s eyes flicker over to Sasuke, who is heavily bandaged from protecting him, being supported by Sakura, and thinks that he understands.

 “I think you’re gonna do great, Haku,” He says. “Just remember, from now on - you fight for what you want.”

 Haku gives him a long, searching look. “Only if you will.”

 He leaves later that afternoon, and they pack their bags to return home as well. 

 “Well, would you look at that,” Tazuna says. “Looks like they’re naming the bridge after you. Haku told them how you inspired him to finish off Gato.” 

 “What? Really? No way! Bet you don’t have a bridge named after you, Sasuke!” 

 “Don’t go getting such a big head, Naruto,” Sakura tells him, laughing.

 He is approached last by Inari. “I’m sorry,” he says tremulously. “I should’ve done more, instead of crying.”

 Naruto suddenly feels strangely worn out. “You’re a kid, Inari. You don’t have to do anything.” He gives him a bright smile. “And besides, I handled it didn’t I? You should’ve seen me out there!” 

 “Sasuke says you got beat up,” Inari says cheerfully. Naruto glares at Sasuke, who shrugs. “I mean, you kind of did.” 

 “Bastard,” Naruto says, but Sasuke’s mockery is almost relieving. A return to their natural state, after the confusion of the past few days.

It didn’t make sense to him. Sasuke knew he healed faster. And he didn’t know Naruto would break the seal if he died. The rational decision, a shinobi’s decision, would be to take out the enemy rather than protecting the dead weight. 

A lot of things Sasuke did didn’t make sense.

But it didn’t matter. _Because next time,_ Naruto thinks, _I’m gonna be the one to save you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally had enough time to work on this fic again! Everything mentioned about bloodline limits in here is actually part 1 canon. Haku relates his experience with being persecuted for his bloodline to Sasuke, but of course Sasuke isn’t conscious for all that. And there is a running theme of clans being killed off for their bloodline traits, or having them forcibly extracted. I get the feeling that skipping immediately over to the Chuunin Exams caused Kishimoto to miss out on crucial bits of world building, which shippuden tried to expand on by introducing the Senju/Uchiha subplot and Danzo, though elements of this specific plot line were always present. 
> 
> Let me know what you guys think! And feel free to discuss or send me ask on my tumblr @ tostadafan, or my twitter with the same url when I go off private.


	4. Vessel

Orochimaru has always considered himself a people person.

He supposes it’s his ability to see the fault lines in humanity. He could see the inferiority complex gnawing inside of Jiraiya underneath the bravado and bluster. A few relatively kind words, and it had been easy to keep him complacent. Tsunade was too trapped in her sorrows to pay his plans any attention. He knew her haughtiness concealed a brittle, sentimental heart. And finally, there had been his sensei. A legendary shinobi, the third hokage, a man thoroughly convinced of his own goodness. So long as Orochimaru amended each request to expand his research with _it’s for the good of the village_ , Hiruzen would nod and approve. By the time Hiruzen had finally discovered the products of his research, it was too late for it to matter.

His former advisor is much more interesting.

“I wouldn’t come to you normally,” Danzo mutters, half shrouded in the darkness of the room. “But this is something only a man of your...caliber, could accomplish.”

“You know this amounts to a betrayal of Konoha,” Orochimaru says lightly. “Maybe I’ll have a little slip up, and let them know you’ve met with me.” He leans back in his cushioned chair, as Kabuto pours them both some tea. “Convince me. Why should I help you?”

Danzo does not hesitate at all before responding. “You need a new body, and I can give you an opening to acquire one. In the coming chunin exams.”

Orochimaru almost laughs. It was rare he met someone as unapologetic as himself.

“Let’s say I decide to help,” Orochimaru notices, in amusement, that Danzo is fidgeting with nervousness. “What exactly would this entail? How exactly do our goals align?”

“...I have a collection of sharingan, that I can ship to Oto discreetly. And my spies have informed me that you are in need of a new body.” Danzo mutters.“I have a vision of a weapon, a legendary weapon that could protect the village. But I need someone like you to assemble it. And in return...I will allow you an opening into the village, for the body of Sasuke Uchiha.”

Orochimaru’s interest is piqued, but he doesn’t let this show. Not yet. “I have to ask. Where exactly did you acquire this collection of sharingan to begin with?”

Danzo looks at him coldly, silent for once, and Orochimaru understands. He does laugh this time. “Don’t tell me,” He says, grinning madly. Danzo looks away furiously.

“I have no regrets. And Hiruzen is aware of everything that happened. Itachi Uchiha continues to work for us, as our agent, to this day.”

Infiltrating the Akatsuki, Orochimaru thinks. Well, this explained a lot. From the complete lack of effort in tracking Itachi, to Danzo’s ejection from his advisor position. Although, he notes gleefully, he had not been ejected from the general council.

“I’ll create your weapon.” He says. This would simplify his plans by a broad margin - it would no longer be necessary for Kabuto to infiltrate as a student, if Danzo would simply lift seals to allow them into the forest during the examination. “Though, you really should’ve lead with the information about the massacre. That little tidbit will make acquiring the Uchiha child’s body so much easier.”

“How can you be sure of that?” Danzo asks.

Orochimaru smiles widely, feeling skin crumble around the corners of his mouth, his current form beginning to decompose. “Because I’m a people person.”

* * *

Naruto understands the point of team bonding activities. Really, he gets it. And he knows that taking a group photo is just another part of that. What he doesn’t understand is why Kaka-sensei had to choose the hottest day of the year to book an entire photoshoot.

“Now, let’s try that again without you trying to attack Sasuke,” Kakashi is telling him, trying to be pleasant.

“Maybe I wouldn’t try if he didn’t have such a punchable face,” Naruto grumbles. Sasuke responds by giving him the exact smug smile that was pissing him off in the first place.

“Naruto, can you shut up for a minute? Please?” Sakura snaps at him before quickly returning to her pose, grinning and flipping her hair over her shoulder as the photographer attempts another shot.

“Heh. Dumbass.” Sasuke smirks at Naruto’s outraged face. Sakura’s eyebrow twitches in annoyance at Sasuke interrupting their photo, but she doesn’t reprimand him. Of course not, Naruto thinks bitterly. Sasuke also notices, and snorts.

“Stop making fun of me, right now!” He cries out.

Sasuke scoffs. “Or you’ll do what?” Naruto is considering lunging at him when Kakashi interrupts.

“Remember that the sooner we get this finished, the sooner we can all leave for ramen,” Kakashi squeezes Naruto’s shoulder as he says this.

“Fine, whatever.” Naruto throws Sasuke one last infuriated glance. Sakura ignores them both to focus on posing.

“Alright, smile!” The photographer says, clearly relieved to be almost done. The camera flashes, and Naruto is annoyed to see that he is looking at Sasuke in the photo, while Sasuke glares directly ahead as if he doesn’t exist.

_Asshole._

“Well,” Kakashi says, clearly trying to mitigate the lingering tension, “how about that ramen?”

Sakura complains that Ichiraku’s broth is too salty and will break her diet, and Sasuke complains that it’s too hot for ramen, but Naruto ignores them both, concentrating on the overloaded bowl Ayame places in front of him - with every topping, just as he likes it. He deserves this after putting up with Sasuke for the past few weeks.

Naruto slides his eyes over to Sasuke, who his picking at his pork, pointedly ignoring him. This is how it's been between them since their return from Wave Country. At first they could barely face each other without blushing hotly, remembering the events that transpired within Haku’s ice enclosure. Then Sasuke just had to make things worse, by rescuing Naruto over and over. From falling out of a tree, from being attacked by a dog they were meant to return to its owner, even from tripping.

_He thinks he's so much better than me. I bet he loves that I keep screwing up! Well, I’m not gonna give him the satisfaction anymore!_

Naruto begins scarfing down his ramen rapidly, and Sakura looks at him with mild disgust.

“Um...what are you doing?”

“Eating quickly so I can get back to training, that's what!” Naruto grins at her with food still in his mouth, chopsticks scraping at the bottom of his bowl, and she recoils.

He reaches for his wallet as Ayame arrives with his bill. Gama-Chan is looking skinny, he thinks, pouting. But surely there was enough to cover the cost of one bowl of ramen, surely…

Damnit.

“I might not have enough,” he says, laughing nervously, mentally kicking himself. Teuchi and Ayame had let him get away with free meals so many times, how could he possibly -

“I got it.”

Sasuke is rummaging through his pocket. Kakashi is giving him that small, affectionate smile under his mask. Sakura looks like she wishes she had offered instead. Naruto feels irritation well up inside of him.

“You don't need to do that,” he says gruffly.

“Idiot, how else do you plan to pay?”

“I’ll take care of it, Sasuke,” Kakashi begins gently, but Sasuke has already slammed his money on the counter. His bangs cover his eyes, and his cheeks are a bit flushed.

“Not a big deal,” he mutters, and continues finishing his ramen as if nothing had happened.

Naruto doesn't say _thank you_ or _I’m sorry_ for being a prick these past few days. But Sasuke has never wanted his remorse or his gratitude anyway.

“I’m gonna head to training,” he says. “You should hurry up and finish eating Sasuke, or soon you'll be lagging behind!” Sasuke bristles at this. Naruto knows he is always straining whatever this strange, tenuous thing is between them. But the thought of being indebted to Sasuke, of holding his attention solely out of obligation and pity, never sits well with him.

“Please,” Sasuke replies. “We both know I could kick your ass any day.” Naruto grins, because this animosity, their rivalry, is something he understands.

He heads over to the training course, allowing the thought of how Sasuke would comment if he used this move, how he'd smirk if he missed a target, to fuel him for hours.

\---------------------

Sakura isn't sure what she expected upon their return from Wave Country - some sort of shift in the team dynamic, a newfound closeness - but it was quickly becoming apparent that actual teamwork would never be a thing for them, because Naruto wouldn't let it.

They wait for Kakashi at the bridge. “I am so over having to stand around for two hours every morning!” Sakura inspects the ends of her hair. _I look awful...I didn't even get to dry my hair properly!_

She peaks over at Sasuke, wondering if he'd noticed, but he was leaning against the railing, ignoring both her and Naruto.

Naruto, on the other hand, is more than eager to chime in.

“Yeah, yeah! I'm sick of it too Sakura-Chan, I didn't get to change or brush this morning!” Sakura notes with disgust that there's a rotten smell emanating from Naruto’s clothes.

“That's...you should take better care of yourself Naruto, it's a little gross.” She tries to sound patient. She was trying to be nicer and everything...she remembers Sasuke snapping at her near the bench, weeks ago, and part of her can't help but wonder why Sasuke was so mad in the first place. It’s not like Naruto ever missed a chance to pick a fight with him.

And yet...she remembers Naruto’s confession at the fire, and her stomach squirms with guilt entirely unrelated to Sasuke. _Because if Naruto is really the Kyuubi Vessel, well...everyone hating him and him not knowing how to do stuff like a normal kid isn't his fault._

Naruto, having lost interest in their conversation, is now glowering at Sasuke. Sakura is relieved when she hears Kakashi approaching, right before the inevitable fight.

“Sorry I’m late,” he says cheerfully. “I got lost on the path of - “

“If you say path of life, I will actually clobber you.” Sakura growls.

“Maybe save that aggression for the Chunin exams,” Kakashi replies, and the three of them blink in surprise.

“Wait...we qualify?” Naruto stares at him, wide eyed.

“Of course you do. You successfully endured an A rank mission. You're ready.”

Sakura feels sick with anxiety, yet she can practically feel the excitement wafting off of Naruto and Sasuke. _Just like when Haku convinced us to sneak out with him,_ she thought bitterly. _And who was right about that being a bad idea? Me!_

But she wasn't going to let her nervousness show. The Chuunin exams required three participants, and she was not gonna let Sasuke think she was dead weight.

“I do have one other announcement,” Kakashi says. “You three have been summoned to the Hokage Tower for a very special task.”

Special task? Sakura suppresses a groan. I swear, if this is another A-rank mission…

They make their way into the tower, and are greeted not only by the third hokage, but a small group of elders that Sakura has very rarely seen around the village.

“Welcome.” The third smiles warmly, and Sakura cant help but smile back. He always had a way of making everyone feel at ease. He introduces them to three elders - Danzo Shimura, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado.

“Before I inform you of your assignment, I want to refresh you on some recent history.” The end of his pipe glows orange, and he exhales before continuing. “I take it you're all aware of the Kyuubi attack from twelve years ago?”

They exchange surprised glances, before refocusing on the hokage.

“Sir, what does that have to do with our assignment?” Sakura asks, somewhat nervous.

“Well, you may know of jinchuuriki, human vessels meant to contain bijuu - “

“Okay fine, I admit it.” Naruto suddenly jumps up. “I told them! I know I wasn't supposed to and that I’m in trouble, and I don't know how you found out - “

“Calm down, Naruto.” The third smiles gently, but Naruto’s hands remain clenched with tension. “It's alright if your teammates know, although I hope you will inform no one else. The purpose of this meeting was to inform them.”

“You may not be aware of this,” the old woman in the back - Koharu - speaks for the first time. “But it is possible to tap into and control Kyuubi chakra - in fact, it can be a source of tremendous power for a jinchuuriki.”

“You trust this dobe to control it?” Sasuke says, and Naruto glares at him in response.

“I trust that he will be able to, in time with proper handlers.” The woman sips her tea. “And you are the perfect match, as the Kyuubi can be suppressed by the sharingan. If he gets out of control, you can restrain him." 

Sasuke seems taken aback, but quickly composes himself. “I can do it. I’ll learn how to.”

Sakura feels a bit flustered at his confidence. Sasuke was  _so_ cool sometimes.

“Um, Lord Hokage sir?” She says, timidly. “How do...how do I factor into this? Also, how does Naruto even start tapping into it?”

“We have a special teacher in mind who can help him, but until he agrees, we will employ a few of our own theories. I’m certain Naruto is capable.”

“I am!” Naruto says, nodding eagerly, clearly thrilled to be entrusted with a special task. “I can do it! You'll see. I’ll practice every day until I figure it out!”

The Hokage and his council seem pleased. “Well,” Danzo says, “why don't we head into the training field and give this a try?”

They are about to leave, before Sasuke interrupts.

“Wait,” he begins. “There's something I need to ask you about.” Sakura’s stomach drops as she realizes what he must be referring to.

“In Wave Country, I saw sharingan eyes. Being shipped and packaged to Otogakure.” The room is engulfed in complete silence. “I want to know what that's all about.”

The Hokage seems genuinely surprised, but Danzo immediately speaks.

“They are synthetic eyes,” he says. The Hokage looks at him questioningly, and Danzo is unperturbed. “I’ve seen it, Hiruzen. The nobility in smaller countries like to boast about collecting kekkai genkai traits, especially those that are rare. And nothing is rarer than a sharingan. But naturally, it's all a farce.”

“I suppose that's not surprising,” The Hokage replies. Sasuke narrows his eyes.

“They were real! I grew up surrounded by sharingans, I know what they look like. And Kakashi has a real one, but he's not an Uchiha.”

“That's Kakashi-sensei to you,” Danzo replies briskly. “And Kakashi’s eye was given to him by an Uchiha friend. There is no way a kekkai genkai of that value would leave our village.”

“Your clan is buried safely in the outskirts of the Uchiha district,” the Third says warmly. Sasuke, who previously appeared unconvinced, relaxes slightly.

“Onto business then,” Danzo says.

They head outside into a large clearing with Danzo and one nameless ANBU. Naruto is practically bursting with excitement behind her, clearly determined to prove himself.

“Kakashi told us the seal broke on your previous mission,” Danzo says. “What triggered it?”

“Oh! Well, um…” Naruto’s eyes shift over to Sasuke, and he flushes. “Well, it was just a scary situation! Lots of fighting, and I got really mad.”

“Strong emotions, tension, anger, those are your triggers then.” Danzo mutters. Without warning, he flings a kunai at Naruto.

“Ow - hey!” Sasuke pulls Naruto to the side just as the kunai grazes his arm, and Naruto shoves him away roughly. “I can move on my own, Sasuke!”

“Then why didn't you?”

“What should I do?” Sakura asks impatiently.

“For now, you supervise,” Danzo replies without looking at her.

_Great, Naruto is a jinchuuriki, Sasuke gets to suppress his chakra or whatever, and I get to supervise. Awesome._

“Heightened emotions and risk will allow you to tap into your chakra faster.” Danzo says. “Try to fight instead of relying on your friend this time.”

“Wasn't relying on him,” Naruto grumbles. Sasuke steps off to the side.

Naruto creates shadow clones, and Danzo’s ANBU throws a host of shuriken this time. The clones pop one by one, but the real Naruto is unscathed. They continue like this for nearly an hour, until Sakura is sleepy with boredom and Sasuke’s eyebrow is twitching with restlessness.

“Pretty good, huh?” Naruto says smugly, somehow not tired out.

“What exactly is the point of this?” Sasuke demands.

“We are exhausting his chakra, until he has no choice but to access his second source.” Danzo says simply. “Now, do all that again.”

The session lasts hours. Sakura’s leg is growing numb from sitting, when Danzo finally says, “now, we may move onto phase two.”

“Will I get to use my sharingan?” Sasuke bolts up.

“Not yet.” Danzo says quietly. He looks at his ANBU, who approaches Naruto slowly and quietly tells him to hold still.

What follows would plague Sakura’s nightmares for weeks.

Naruto begins screaming, a desperate, animalistic sound. He clutches his head and falls to his knees, and Sasuke is immediately at his side.

“What are you doing to him?!”

“It's just a genjutsu,” Danzo says, as the ANBU grips Naruto by the shoulders and forces him to make eye contact with him.

“What's wrong with you, can't you see it's hurting him?” Sakura shrieks.

“We exhausted his chakra, now we must create an imagined threat to trigger a strong emotion.” Danzo studies Naruto, whose features are transforming. “Instead of complaining, try watching him.”

Naruto’s nails and canine teeth elongate, a fierce, heated chakra envelops him, and his eyes flash red. He was also, Sakura realizes with a pang in her heart, crying.

“That's enough,” Sasuke says suddenly, and to her immense shock, shoves a kunai to the ANBU’s thigh.

“What the hell,” the man gasps, and the genjutsu breaks, Naruto falling over unceremoniously.

“You will be reported for attacking an agent,” Danzo threatens.

“I don't care,” Sasuke replies, inspecting Naruto despite there being no physical wound.

Danzo shakes his head. “You three aren't ready. Perhaps once you're through with the Chunin exams, and have seen the shinobi other villages are producing, you will finally be prepared to access your full potential.” He gestures to his ANBU to leave. “Until next time, then.”

They're left to themselves, and Naruto is silent a long time before he finally speaks.

“Shouldn't have interfered…” he says, barely catching his breath. Sasuke rolls his eyes.

“You were screaming on the ground, usuratonkachi, it was pathetic. It wasn't getting us anywhere - “

“It was getting us somewhere! I don't need to be babied, I was learning to control it!” He pushes Sasuke away from him, who sneers in response.

“You're an idiot.” He says bluntly. “I’m going home, this is a waste of my time.”

As Sasuke leaves, Sakura helps Naruto up. “What did they make you see, anyway?” She asks.

“...Nothing I can't handle,” Naruto says quietly, but Sakura watches as his eyes remain fixed on Sasuke’s retreating form, tracing the faded scars on his neck, forearms, calves, where Haku’s needles had once pierced flesh and bone.

* * *

Sasuke had believed the story about the synthetic eyes. Not immediately, but he had, once the Third Hokage had given his assurance. But the display from earlier had shaken his confidence - because they were shinobi, and their training methods could be intense and brutal, but what Danzo had done…

_To test the limits of my abilities._

Itachi’s voice, cold and terrible in its apathy, rings through his head.

Tormenting someone through an illusion to push the boundaries of what was possible...that was Itachi all over. He wouldn't tolerate it.

Could they have been lying about Kakashi’s eye being given to him from a friend too? He wonders. He trusted Kakashi for the most part, but he couldn't be sure he wouldn't also lie as well, if he were to ask him.

_I have to be realistic. I can’t let my guard down anymore._

He tosses and turns in bed under the severe light of the full moon before giving up, tossing aside his sheets, and getting dressed to train.

Throwing kunai was rudimentary to him at this point, yet the repetition of the act was calming to him. He would practice until he tired himself out enough to fall asleep, and then -

He wasn't alone.

“Sasuke!” Sakura chirps happily behind him. He inwardly curses and considers turning around and pretending he hadn't heard her.

“What a coincidence that we ran into each other...alone out here..at night…” Sakura flushes deeply. Sasuke tosses a kunai at his target, wondering if he ignores her long enough, she will simply leave.

“I was just thinking we should spend some time together too!” Sakura chatters away. “I was gonna head home, mom will be so mad that I’m late, but I’ll tell her I’m just nervous about the exams starting soon, and I had to be prepared!”

“You should go to bed,” Sasuke says stiffly. He maintains his indifference as Sakura’s face crumbles.

“Oh...but I was thinking, we could really help each other - “

“You don’t want us to help each other. You just want to ask me out. And you already know I’m gonna say no, so drop it. You've been less useful on our missions than Naruto.”

He can tell this is the first thing he's said to Sakura that's really gotten to her, the comparison to Naruto providing a serious blow to her self-esteem. But to his surprise, there’s a sudden flare of anger in her expression.

“Well, I was right about not following Haku at least!” And as soon as she says this, her eyes widen and she clamps her mouth shut.

“Sorry.” She says shortly. “I didn't mean it Sasuke, I was just..” She trails off when she sees him smiling a bit.

“You were right,” he says. “For once.” He tosses a kunai casually at his target. “But you're still annoying.”

Sakura seems dumbfounded enough at his admission of her correct assessment, even if he qualified it with an insult. She waffles a bit, unsure of what to do next, before taking her place next to him.

“Yeah, well - it won't be the last time I’m right!” Her voice cracks a bit, and he's certain some of this newfound confidence is bravado, but it's still something.

They practice in silence for the next hour, and by the time they're done, Sakura is hitting her target cleanly every time.

* * *

The Chuunin Exam was brimming with shinobi from all five villages, but it also provided a gathering of the nine rookies who had graduated from Naruto’s own academy. In other words, it provided a gathering of people who hated Naruto, and who he, with a practiced tenacity, had learned to hate back.

To make matters worse, the Chuunin Exams for this year were opening with a banquet.

“Sharing meals is an excellent way to stress cooperation across borders,” The Third Hokage announced.

“What’s the point of stressing cooperation if we’re all gonna be beating the crap out of each other in a few weeks anyway?” Naruto grumbles to Kakashi.

“Well, this also doubles as a way to get to know your opponent.” Kakashi responds.”You can gather intel about their jutsu and fighting style. Keep an open mind.”

It was with this that he’d sent Naruto. Sakura, and Sasuke to the banquet in formal attire he had bought for them. Naruto wishes he was back in his jumpsuit, the silky texture of the cloth was foreign against his skin and uncomfortably expensive.

“What intel are we supposed to gather here besides how everyone holds their chopsticks?” Naruto demands.

“Oh be quiet Naruto, there's nothing wrong with getting to know everyone! We don't have to hate each other just because we’re competing.” Sakura chastises him.

Naruto resists the urge to roll his eyes and earn a pummeling from Sakura. _She’s just excited to dress fancy in front of Sasuke,_ he thinks, noticing how she sashays closer to him than usual. _Not that he’d even notice._

He peers over at Sasuke, trying to be inconspicuous. Sasuke had been even colder to him than usual since the incident with Danzo, not responding in the slightest to Naruto’s goading. _What’s he so pissed about_ , Naruto thinks bitterly. _I’m the one who got his brain melted_.

He wonders, with a clench in his stomach, how Danzo and the ANBU had known exactly how to provoke him. _Kaka-sensei must have told them it happened after I thought Sasuke died…_

He decides not to dwell on the implications of Sasuke being his trigger.

They take their place at a table with the rest of their classmates from the academy.

“Well, look who made it.” Naruto grimaces at the sight of Kiba Inuzuka’s smug, grinning face. Almost everyone at the academy had bullied him, but Kiba had always taken special pleasure in Naruto’s failures. Next to him, Shino Aburame stood silently as always, and Hinata Hyuuga, a shy, plain girl he’d hardly taken notice of, flushed red at the sight of him.

_What a weirdo._

“Oh my god, Sasuke, hi!” Ino Yamanaka bounds enthusiastically towards their side of the table, wrapping her arms around a clearly irritated Sasuke. Naruto doesn't miss the way she smiles tauntingly at Sakura, who is clenching her fists in anger. “Oh. Hey there billboard brow. Didn't see you.”

“Sit down Ino, we’re not supposed to be running around here,” Naruto hears Shikamaru Nara’s dry voice behind him, bored as always. Lazy asshole, Naruto thinks. He doesn't pay Naruto any attention, sitting down on the chair marked with his name next to Chouji Akimichi, who is eyeing their empty plates with disdain.

The last three genin arrive to take their seat at Konoha’s table. Naruto doesn't recognize them. There's a girl with her hair wrapped in two buns, a boy with thick eyebrows and a bowl cut who blushes when he sees Sakura, and the third boy resembles Hinata.

He’s the most serious of the three, stone faced as he walks over to where Hinata is and pulls her chair for her, but with a stiff sort of aggression. She blushes in embarrassment.

“Neji-nii-san, you don't have to…” she mumbles timidly, but Neji ignores her. In the back, where the competitors’ families are assembled, Naruto sees an older Hyuuga man watching the scene carefully.

“Well, that was weird,” Sakura mutters. Next to her, Shikamaru is also eyeing the two quizzically, before turning away as though he really couldn’t be bothered to decipher the situation.

The Third Hokage walks over to the center of the room, and the raucousness of the crowd settles down into quiet murmurs.

“Welcome,” he says, his voice booming and immediately commanding authority. Naruto notices how even the clan heads at their fancy tables sit up a bit straighter as he begins to speak, and a thrill shoots through him at the thought of one day being so important.

“As some of you may know, the Chunin Exams were established by our second Hokage to create a formalized system of ranking for shinobi, and to sharpen our skills in combat. Since the third shinobi war, it has expanded to include all five villages in a good natured show of competition.”

Naruto was nearly vibrating with excitement at the prospect of competing. Behind him, he hears Shikamaru snort lightly.

“Something funny?” He snaps, probably a bit too loudly, whirling around.

“Oh, nothing. It's just obvious this whole thing exists to show off which village has the strongest guys, all for the daimyos, so they can get a hold of the highest paying clients.” He juts his chin towards a group of men in ornate garb and young women hanging off their arms, in a sectioned off portion of the room.

Naruto scowls. “Or maybe you're just scared to compete, and you're trying to find reasons to shit on the entire thing, Shikamaru!”

“Shhh, I’m trying to listen!” Sakura hisses.

“Billboard brow thinks memorizing the old man’s long, boring speech is gonna give her an edge over us or something,” Ino whispers, rolling her eyes.

“The first portion of the exams will commence tomorrow morning,” the Hokage continues. “I trust that those of you who are competing will sleep soundly and prepare yourselves mentally. But for now, feast away!”

With this conclusion, he returns to his seat as food is carried over to their tables.

They better have ramen, Naruto thinks grumpily, but his thoughts are cut off as he’s met with the most decadent food he’s seen in his life.

Miso glazed black cod, crispy tofu with crab sauce. Followed by heaping plates of chilled soba, next to steaming bowls of udon in thick broth.

Sakura is reaching over to pile black cod onto her plate when the boy with the bowl cut darts forward, knocking over Ino’s green tea onto her in the process, to retrieve it for her.

“If you need anything at all, please do not hesitate to ask me!” The boy is a little too loud, grinning boldly. Sakura blinks, taken aback.

“Um. Sure.”

“There is something seriously off about that kid,” Ino mutters with surprising aggression, as Chouji frantically pats her dry.

“Lee, please sit down,” the girl with buns says, embarrassed, and the Hyuuga boy next to her sighs.

Ino takes in the scene, before turning to Sakura with a smirk.

“Aw, billboard brow. I think someone might finally have a crush on you. Too bad it has to be a freak.” She keeps her voice low, so only their end of the table can hear, smirking wider as Lee continues to throw Sakura longing glasses. She blushes until her cheeks nearly match her hair, but quickly collects herself.

“At least someone likes me Ino-pig. You know, I bet you haven't even had your first kiss yet!”

“Yeah? Like anyone has kissed you.” Ino narrows her eyes. “Or...is there someone?”

What’s she all nervous for? Naruto thinks, squinting at Ino’s fingers as she plays with the edge of her sleeve. Sakura smiles broadly.

“More like who haven’t I kissed. Of course, there's some I like more than others.” She slides her eyes over to Sasuke, brief but still long enough that Ino hasn’t missed it.

“Wha..? Sakura-Chan, you haven’t - “ Sakura kicks Naruto’s shin harshly, maintaining her smile, and he yells in pain.

 _Jeez...I mean she hasn’t...right?_ He wonders what he would think if it turned out Sakura really has kissed Sasuke. The thought makes his gut clench unpleasantly. Sasuke is quiet at the end of the table, eating his food neatly, no signs of so much as listening to the ongoing argument. _He wouldn’t kiss Sakura-Chan...he doesn't like her like that…_

Or maybe they were already together, and hiding it from him. Could they make each other happy? The idea of Sakura and Sasuke spending their days together, without him...it makes him feel like he’s back on that crickety swing that hung from a tree branch outside the academy, small and incredibly lonely.

Ino and Sakura continue bickering, and Naruto talks just to clear his thoughts.

“Man, girls are so weird,” he says, through a mouthful of food. Some of it flies onto Shikamaru’s shirt in front of him. “Imagine being that loud for no reason!”

“Are you serious.” Shikamaru says plainly.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Naruto barks out.

Shikamaru exchanges an odd look with Chouji, and goes back to eating his food.

At the back of the room, he notices newcomers. A girl with sandy, blonde hair, a boy with strange face paint, and another with a gourd on his back.

“Hey, hey! I’ve never seen those guys before!” Naruto says. Shikamaru looks like he wants to hit him.

“Well, it's the chunin exams. People from other villages are arriving. Naruto, could you shut up and eat?”

“Yeah, whatever,” Naruto scowls at his plate. Kiba snickers a bit, two seats down, and Hinata is staring at him intently again. It sort of creeps him out.

When the banquet finally ends, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke decide to get some fresh air. Well, Sakura shyly asks Sasuke if he would like to walk home with her, much to Ino’s obvious disdain, Sasuke grudgingly agrees since their homes are apparently in the same direction, and Naruto forces his way along despite his apartment being on the other side of the village, just because he can’t get the earlier image of Sasuke and Sakura kissing out of his head.

“So, uhhhh, what are you guys doing tomorrow?” He asks as they step out of the building. A vein pulses in Sakura’s forehead. He can tell she's not happy he's here, and he tries to ignore the disappointment that surges through him at that.

Before either can answer, however, the boy from earlier is suddenly standing in front of them.

“We did not have a chance to introduce ourselves earlier.” He says. “My name is Rock Lee.”

“We heard,” Sasuke says, although he probably hasn't. “Get out of the way, we’re trying to get home.”

“Not so fast. I have a proposition for you. I would like to fight you. And…” he turns to Sakura with shining eyes, and she steps back. “If I win...I would like to take you on a date!”

Sakura stares. “You’re...kidding. Right?”

“Absolutely not! From the moment I saw you, I knew I wanted you to be my girlfriend, and I would like to prove my strength by defeating an Uchiha!”

“This is too weird,” Sakura says, lost.

“You should fight me instead! The Uchiha aren’t all that great,” Naruto says, grinning. He’s sick of Sasuke getting all the attention.

“Well, they’re all dead.” Sasuke says, cuttingly. “Whatever. We’ve got a few minutes, I’ll wrap this up.”

“Aw, look at that Temari, the rookies are fighting.” The boy with the face paint is walking out of the building. The girl with sandy hair - Temari - rolls her eyes. “We don’t have time for this Kankuro. Let’s go home.”

“I would like to watch.”

The third member of their team, a redhead with a gourd, speaks coldly. Naruto is surprised by how Temari and Kankuro stiffen at his voice. The kid was tiny, frail. Shorter than Naruto, even.

“Well, what's the hold up?” The boy says.

“Let’s get to it,” Sasuke says wearily, when they see a guard approaching.

“What do you kids think you're doing, this isn’t a - “ his sentence is cut off by sand suddenly surrounding him, clutching at his wrist as though it were sentient.

“What the hell…”

Naruto whirls around, trying to see who is responsible, when he sees Temari clutching the red headed boy’s shoulders tightly.

“Gaara, please, don’t!” To his shock, she's crying, her earlier haughtiness completely dissipated.

The guard makes terrible choking noises, and Naruto is worried the man is about to die when Rock Lee suddenly surges forward, faster than any rookie he's seen - faster than Sasuke, even - and tosses Gaara up as though he were a weightless doll, waiting until he’s suspended midair to launch a heavy kick upon his chest.

_Wow…_

Next to him, Sasuke has his sharingan activated to copy the move and Sakura’s jaw hangs open.

“I am so sorry for the trouble,” Lee is telling the guard, who is panting hoarsely.

“This is a waste of time,” Gaara says darkly, dusting himself off. He looks at Lee with murderous loathing, but he doesn't seem to notice, busy helping the guard up.

The team from Suna is already leaving. “Are we really just gonna let them walk? That kid nearly killed someone!” Sakura looks nauseated as she speaks.

The guard shakes his head. “Those are the kazekage’s kids, nothing we can do. And the redhead is a jinchuuriki. You know how they can’t help themselves.”

Naruto feels a chill run through him.

“Oh...yeah, sure,” Sakura says, hesitant. Her eyes dart towards Naruto and back, as though she isn't sure if it's inappropriate to look. Sasuke, on the other hand, is looking right at him, unabashedly contemplative.

“Let's go. Another time, Lee.”

“Understandable,” Lee replies, nodding.

They walk home in complete silence, and Naruto feels embarrassed as they pass his apartment, making it obvious he had only followed so he wouldn't be alone.

“You should turn around,” Sasuke says curtly, and Naruto wonders if he's mad because of what he just heard, if he hates Naruto now, or if Sasuke is just being Sasuke.

Sakura is walking even closer to Sasuke than usual, and avoiding Naruto’s eyes, which is what finally drives him to leave.

“Fine,” he says gruffly. “Fine. I get it.” He gives them a big, sarcastic grin before making his way back.

You know they can’t help themselves.

Maybe it was true. Everyone in the village had avoided him for as long as he could remember. Maybe he, just like that Gaara kid, was one frail moment of instability away from crushing someone alive. He felt that anger, didn't he? Before Iruka, before team 7. He felt it every day. The undeniable pulse of violence in his veins, every time someone spat at or rejected him, held at bay only by his desperate goal of becoming hokage. Of becoming someone people could look at without repulsion.

Naruto walks through the street alone, and makes up his mind to allow Danzo to teach him

* * *

“Again,” says Sasuke briskly, as Sakura’s shuriken wires don't quite ensnare the training dummy.

 _Again_ , she thinks irritably, as the shuriken almost penetrate the dummy on her fifth try, but the wires come loose. Sasuke gives a long suffering sigh, and Sakura almost feels angry with him. Almost.

“I only agreed to let you keep training with me since you said you really wanted to contribute more to the team,” Sasuke says. That, and Naruto was being weird lately, but neither of them want to discuss that. “This isn't cutting it. Do it again.”

“I am trying as hard as I can,” she argues. “It's just not working, I’m not an Uchiha, I don't know how to do shuriken jutsu, and - “ she stops, realizing he has that little smile on his face again.

“...What?” She asks, somewhat petulant.

“Nothing.” He shrugs. “This is just easier now that you manage to make it through a training session without asking me out.”

She blushes, angry he would bring up something he knows would embarrass her, and just the tiniest bit dejected that the idea of them dating was still so laughable to him.

“Can I go home already,” she says. “My mom will be waiting with dinner…” she trails off, hoping the mention of her mother hadn't annoyed him, came off as her rubbing her family in his face. But he seems to not have registered her words fully, already packing up his things.

“Whatever. Naruto would stay until he exhausted himself,” he says, more to himself than to her, and she feels a twinge of envy that is almost enough to drive her to stay on the training field another six hours. Until she remembers her mother is making anmitsu, her favorite.

She's regretting her decision once they arrive at the forest of death. The written exam had gone smoothly enough, despite Naruto infuriating everyone in the waiting room and not managing to answer a single question. Lucky for them, the purpose of the test wasn't to honestly answer to begin with. _Besides, I actually study._ Unlike every other person in the room, with a kekkei genkai or specialized clan jutsus or teammates who already knew how to work as a cohesive unit, she actually had to depend on her mind alone, and she'd done so successfully. Formulas, equations, memorization and analysis - these were things that came easily to her.

The forest, on the other hand, is an entirely new terrain that she isn't sure how to navigate.

“So we just have to get scrolls from the other team!” Naruto says brightly. “No big deal!”

Sakura thinks of the red headed boy with the gourd, of Rock Lee’s swift taijutsu, of Ino’s mind transfer, and is filled with dread.

There is a long stretch of silence after the immediate rush to the forest. Sakura suggests collecting walnuts, berries, and fish for their meals, wanting to contribute something, but Sasuke replies that “everyone will be in those areas obviously, we need to grab a scroll from the stragglers who were too slow to make it to the clearing, and then we can worry about eating.” Sakura nods, wishing she hadn't spoken.

They wander in silence for a bit, searching for weaker teams who hide because they couldn't fight, when a paper bomb lands in between them.

Sakura yelps as Sasuke grabs her arm and pulls her far away. Naruto has already darted out of range.

The assault isn't over. A man with dark eye glasses throws a kunai at them, which Sasuke deflects before turning to Sakura in frustration.

“Why are you standing still? Do something.” He charges back towards the man, launching multiple shuriken wires with his hands, while performing a frankly intimidating trick where he channels his chakra to the bottom of his feet to throw an additional kunai.

Does he really expect me to do that? Sakura thinks, miffed.

“Hey, Sasuke, over here!” Naruto has been trapped by rope, and he grins cheekily as Sasuke slices through it.

“Dumbass,” Sasuke mutters, but he doesn't have the same resentment in his voice as when he spoke to her.

Sakura wishes she had been allowed to stay behind.

She doesn't have time to continue thinking when another set of paper bombs go off at her feet. Sasuke doesn't get to her in time, and before she knows it, she's been blown into the other side of the clearing. There is commotion, a gas bomb of sorts, and the last thing she remembers hearing is Naruto calling her name as she passes out.

She wakes up alone.

The scroll! She pats frantically at her pouch before remembering that Sasuke had insisted that he be the one to carry it, and embarrassment wells up inside her.

_So someone knocked me out, searched me for a scroll, which of course I wasn't carrying because I’m the defective teammate._

Her eyes sting with tears, and she feels deeply irritated with herself for crying at a time like this. She needed to find Sasuke. And Naruto. Her heart stops as she wonders if Sasuke would even look for her. Then she wonders if he she even wanted him to look for her, it would just annoy him to be slowed down.

She sits at the foot of a tree, struggling to hold back tears for several long minutes, when she hears someone laugh behind her.

She clutches her kunai. “Who’s there?! I’m armed, you know!”

“We’re all armed, billboard brow.”

Oh, great. Sakura thinks she'd take Sasuke’s inevitable irritation over this.

“You think she has an earth scroll?” Sakura hears Chouji ask. Team 10 walks over to her, clearly not remotely intimidated. Ino grabs her pouch, ignoring her outraged hey! and empties the contents onto the floor.

“Do you seriously only carry three kunai with you?” Shikamaru asks in his usual condescending way. Sakura wonders what it would feel like to punch him.

“Well, this was pointless. Did your team ditch you, Sakura? I mean, I don't blame them, I’m just surprised since you were pretending like you and Sasuke were a thing at the banquet.” Ino smirks.

Why did I do that? Sakura thinks miserably. Externally, she just grins. “Well, it's not official, but we did kiss. I bet he's looking for me right now. I was taken away, but I put up a fight. He's been helping me train, you know.” The last part, at least, was not a lie.

Ino looks sufficiently pissed off. “Whatever. Let's go guys, enough wasting time.”

Dread shoots through Sakura as she realizes she'd be alone in this forest without them. She thinks fast.

“Wait!” She calls out. “I. Um. I know where you guys can find an earth scroll. My team already has both scrolls,” she's lying through her teeth, “so, we’re not in conflict or anything. Let's be smart about this.” She tries not to sound hysterical. Ino looks unconvinced.

“Awww, billboard brow. Will you be lonely without me?” She leans in, very close, and Sakura is momentarily enraptured by how her eyes are the exact muted blue color of the hydrangeas that grow in her mother’s garden…

_Wait, what?_

“Sakura, helloooo?” Ino waves a hand in front of her face. Shikamaru looks bored.

“Can we leave Ino? She has nothing to offer.”

“Well, we can’t just leave her all by herself,” Chouji says nervously. Shikamaru considers this.

“Yeah, I mean, we don't want her to die, obviously.” He slides his eyes over to Ino. “Well? Are we taking her along or not?”

Ino gives a dramatic sigh. “Looks like I’m saving your ass as usual. Come on. Seriously, come on, you're such a pink eyesore that you're practically a walking target for everyone here.” She clutches Sakura’s forearm and drags her away before she can protest.

Sakura scowls. This was so like Ino. She had always swooped in to save the day when they were kids. _I bet she loves that I always screw up and need her help_ , she thinks, bitterly. _If I could one up her at even one single thing...ninjutsu, getting Sasuke, even these exams...she might finally treat me like an equal. Not that I care or anything_.

Ino sashays ahead of her as always, her long, blonde ponytail swaying behind her. “Come on, Sakura.” She turns back, her eyes sparkling. “Try to keep up.”

* * *

“I think we need to turn right again - oh, see that pathway between the trees! I don't think we’ve been down there before!”

“We have. I even marked it. See?”

Sasuke gestures to the kunai slash over tree bark, and Naruto scowls. “Okay, so maybe we’ve already been here.”

There was no getting around it, even with Naruto’s boundless, baseless optimism. They were hopelessly lost.

“Let’s try going forward, next!” Naruto chirps, and Sasuke reluctantly follows him.

Sakura was missing, which was enough of a problem. They obviously couldn't leave her behind in the forest, where so many of the competitors would kill without a second thought - they had ran into Shino’s leeches feasting upon a team from Kiri already - but Sasuke has to admit that at this rate, they will fail by exam by the time they find her.

He tries to tune out Naruto’s ceaseless chattering as they continue to wander aimlessly. It doesn't make sense. No matter which way we turn, we seem to stay on the same path. Unless…

“Are you boys lost?”

A thin, brittle voice calls out to him. Sasuke is suddenly deeply uneasy as he sees a woman in front of him, with deathly pale skin and an artificial smile.

“Yeah, we’ve been walking for hours!” Naruto says loudly, and Sasuke wonders how he can be so oblivious.

“We’re not on the wrong path, dobe,” he hisses into his ear. “It's a genjutsu. And it's obvious who’s casting it.” Naruto’s eyes widen. The woman smiles wider.

“Don't be so hostile. I already have both scrolls I need, so I’m happy to help. This portion of the forest is known for playing tricks on your mind. But I can help you escape the illusion.”

Sasuke narrows his eyes, but Naruto seems to be considering it.

“We don't exactly have a lot of options,” he says. Sasuke has to grudgingly admit this is true.

“Fine,” he says. “Lead the way.” It would be more difficult for her to take them by surprise if she stayed up front. Eventually, he would try and have a go at her for an earth scroll.

The woman leads them into a cave, water droplets falling from the stones. There were carvings, oddly delicate and artistic, all over the walls.

“Do you know where we are?” The woman asks.

Sasuke squints at the carving and makes out a shape in the dark.

“That's the first hokage!” Naruto says excitedly.

“That's right,” the woman responds warmly. “And next to him, is his lover.”

Sasuke inhales sharply in surprise as he makes out an Uchiha fan on the back of his lover’s clothing.

“That's Madara Uchiha...he killed him at the Valley of the End. That's his lover?”

Naruto has other questions. “So the first hokage liked guys? Gross!”

Sasuke feels inexplicably annoyed by Naruto’s disgusted tone, but there's an edge of nervousness to his voice as well.

The woman traces her fingers over the carvings. “Madara Uchiha was his exception. Hashirama was a dutiful young boy who grew into a dutiful young man, but Madara had a way of...swaying him. He wouldn't have brought an end to the warring clans era if it weren't for his love for Madara. They used to meet in this cave, and Hashirama used his jutsu to start creating the forest, specifically to preserve and keep it hidden. Their love was the bridge between Senju and Uchiha, and Konoha is their legacy.”

“An Uchiha helped make Konoha? That's not in our textbooks.”

“History isn't often kind to the losing side.” The woman says. “The Uchiha surrendered for peace, but Madara was certain the terms set by the treaty would be their downfall. Perhaps he was right.”

“Now, wait a minute.” Naruto squints at her. “I thought Madara wanted to destroy Konoha. That's what Iruka-sensei said, and he would know. The Uchiha were fine until, well. You know.” He looks uncomfortable, but Sasuke doesn't really care, more absorbed in one particularly lovingly engraved carving of Madara performing a fireball jutsu.

The woman smiles. “Madara not a virtuous man. But Konoha has never been honest about Madara’s involvement in its creation and development. What else could it be hiding?”

Sasuke feels a chill run through him, not wanting to breach this topic of conversation. “Okay, enough sight seeing. You said you could lead us out of this illusion.”

“Are you willing to leave it?”

“Okay lady, what the hell are you talking about?” Naruto says, but his irritation is short lived and horror flits across his face.

“Naruto? What's wrong?” But then Sasuke feels it too - a sense of death, of cold finality, of decay, of bloodlust.

_We need to go_

His thoughts scatter. The woman is approaching them with a knife. He stabs himself with a kunai in an attempt to break the genjutsu, but the illusion only grows stronger.

_A deep voice whispers foolish little brother, mother’s hair tangled with blood, the dango stand sits alone and empty…_

_I’m going to die here_ , Sasuke thinks. _I’m going to die like I was supposed to years ago._

He feels himself growing faint until Naruto lets out a strained cry, and his eyes fly open.

_Have to reach Naruto_

In one, sudden moment, all of Sasuke’s fears are eclipsed by the reminder that Naruto is there, that he needs him, and his body just moves.

The genjutsu shatters.

“Naruto!” He grabs him and they stumble out. The woman is nowhere to be seen, but he keeps an eye out for her. She'd be returning, he was sure of it.

_So stupid to let my guard down…_

For now, he needs to tend to Naruto, who is still in shock from some fading horror.

“I watched - she made me - I just couldn't - “

“What is it?” Sasuke asks roughly, wishing he knew how to be gentle in times like this.

“I watched you die…” Naruto says, turning away so Sasuke can't see his tears, and Sasuke’s heart clenches painfully.

“...Well, I’m not dead. And I don't plan on dying any time soon, so.” His words are awkward, stilted, but Naruto stops shaking anyway.

He leads Naruto by the hand towards a dense row of bushes, tucking them both into a hiding spot, when he once again senses the woman’s ominous, overwhelming chakra.

_Shit._

“Naruto,” he begins, straining to keep his voice level, “we need to just give her the scroll. This woman is out for blood.”

He’s met with a blue eyed glare. “No way, Sasuke. And if you pussy out and hand her that scroll, I swear I’ll kick your ass myself!”

“It's the scroll or our lives! Be practical.”

Naruto’s face sets in a stubborn expression he's come to recognize. “I’m gonna go fight her whether you're helping me or not, and if you're too spineless to finish this exam, you're not the person I thought you were.”

“Like I care what you think,” Sasuke says icily. Naruto furrows his brow and Sasuke notices how even when his anger is serious, he pouts a bit, and how out of place and comical that is, and - what is wrong with me?

He’s trying to make sense of his thoughts when Naruto jumps out from their hiding spot, facing the woman, whose tongue is elongated and swollen, hanging from her lips and making Sasuke’s stomach turn.

He feels the kyuubi’s chakra then, hot and suffocating all around him. He realizes, distantly, that he is still bleeding from where he stabbed himself in a desperate attempt to escape the illusion. And that Naruto can smell his blood.

“What did you do to Sasuke?” He growls at the woman. Sasuke’s wound is bleeding profusely, and it seems pointless to inform Naruto that it had been self inflicted, considering Naruto is clearly hell bent on playing the hero. If he wasn't paralyzed by fear, it would probably piss Sasuke off.

Naruto charges in, then. The woman is unphased, deflecting him easily. She lifts him gently by the collar.

“This is interesting,” she says, lifting his jacket to reveal his seal. “I always wondered what Konoha’s jinchuuriki would be like. It's a shame you're not brighter. I could have had use for you.”

She gingerly places her fingers upon the seal on Naruto’s stomach, and within seconds, his kyuubi chakra is receding, and the red of his eyes fades back to blue before she tosses him roughly onto the ground.

A burst of flame intercepts the fight before him. Sasuke is surprised to see it came from him, his Phoenix flower jutsu, that he had formed the seal without even realizing it.

How many times am I gonna risk my life over his recklessness, he thinks, irritated with himself, as the woman turns towards him, smiling slowly.

“Good to see you’ve decided to join the battle,” she says, and he feels the edges of his vision blurring, rotting away, and attempts to steady himself against the onslaught of genjutsu.

She engages him in taijutsu. Sasuke can feel Naruto behind him, attempting to join the fight, his technique lacking any refinement or precision. He fights like a cornered animal, and Sasuke wishes he would sit back before he does something indescribably stupid like die for him again.

His reaction time isn't quite quick enough for her, and that's even despite her clearly toying with him. He shoots fire at the branches above her, allowing them to fall and hoping the onslaught will slow her next attack. In the meantime, he sets up his shuriken wires, ensnaring her at the last second. He’s going for the kill now, setting her on fire, but it seems to have no effect.

Her skins peels off and her voice deepens. “I’m impressed,” a much lower, silkier voice calls out to him. “Your eyes may be even keener than Itachi’s.”

“Just who the hell are you?” Naruto cries out.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” is the smooth response. The last thing Sasuke remembers before collapsing is teeth sinking into his neck, Naruto’s panic, and a searing pain shooting through his

* * *

“I can't believe you bite into apples without even peeling them, billboard brow. You are such a freak.”

“This is a perfectly normal way to eat an apple!” Sakura growls. “I’m not gonna make my kunai blunt using it on something as stupid as peeling.”

“You look gross biting into it like that,” Ino says, gingerly peeling her apple.

It's been like this for hours now. Ino ribbing Sakura about every insignificant little thing, Sakura somehow always taking the bait. Is Sasuke really worth all this drama, Shikamaru thinks, annoyed. Or maybe his initial impression that Sasuke had less to do with the conflict than it seems had been correct. But also, Shikamaru doesn't really care enough to figure out their problems for them.

They had trekked in the forest for hours before finally stopping to rest and eat. Chouji had left to collect some nuts, but he returns early, ashen faced.

“You're back already?” Ino asks.

Chouji shakes his head tremulously. “Man...I saw something really messed up. You know that Gaara kid?”

Shikamaru faintly recalls a redhead with a gourd at the chunin banquet. “He's one of the guys from Suna right? What about him?”

Chouji shudders. “...I guess team 8 ran into him or something. Hinata is okay, she's shaken up but for some reason he spared her. Shino and Kiba though...they're not dead, but they're pretty close.”

Behind him, Ino claps her hands over her mouth. Sakura doesn't seem surprised. “That kid nearly killed a guard just because he was stopping Sasuke and Lee from sparring outside the banquet building.” She looks down at her hands. “There is something seriously wrong with him. I know a lot of people kill in these exams and stuff...but he was just gonna do it casually. Because someone annoyed him. The guard said it's because he's a jinchuuriki, and they just can't help themselves.” She adds the last part reluctantly, as if it's a shameful revelation and not something they've all been taught since childhood.

Jinchuuriki were featured heavily in the tales his mother would tell him before he went to sleep. The most terrifying thing about a jinchuuriki, his mother had told him, was that they could live amongst ordinary shinobi and no one would notice any difference. Until one day, the beast inside of them would stir, and they would kill on a mere impulse.

_“But if they're able to blend in with normal people, then they’re alright most of the time right? So it's the beast’s fault, not theirs.” Shikamaru had reasoned._

_Mother shook her head. “They can suppress it through their will, but the beast’s power grows with their own violent emotions - anger, sadness, fear. Many lives have been lost to their weak will.”_

_“So why make jinchuuriki at all?”_

_Mother pursed her lips. “...A tailed beast is an asset to a village. It's like...insurance. An indication that your village can strike back with enormous power if it is threatened.”_

Shikamaru had nodded and gone to sleep, still feeling a bit sorry for jinchuuriki. Now, imagining Kiba and Shino’s mangled bodies, it's hard to muster up the same sympathy.

“Let's go in the opposite direction then,” Ino says, trying to bolster herself as their de-facto leader, but Shikamaru can see her hands shaking. He follows her anyway.

Their path is clear for several long minutes until he hears tree leaves rustle behind him.

“Who’s there?!” Sakura calls out in panic.

“Don't alert the enemy!” Ino hisses, but it's too late, and the team from Oto is lunging right at them.

He exchanges a quick glance with Ino. “Get behind us, Sakura,” she says, more serious than he's ever seen her, and Sakura accepts this without question, clearly terrified.

One of the Oto shinobi, heavily bandaged and hunched over, releases a shock wave that nearly knocks all of them off their feet.

“That was just a taste,” He says. “If you give us what we want, there doesn't have to be a fight.”

“You can take the damn scroll,” Shikamaru said. _Like hell I’m getting killed for this stupid exam._

The boy laughs. “We don't want the scroll. Sasuke Uchiha, where are you hiding him?”

They all pause in surprise. The Oto kunoichi speaks next.

“Come on, we know the pink one is on his team. We don't care about the rest of you. Tell us where he is, and we will let you go.”

Sakura is quivering, “I-I don't know where he is. Honest. I got separated from him, and - “

“Bullshit.” The kunoichi says. “You can't tell us anything? The last place you saw him, even?”

Sakura continues to shiver in fear. They can't waste any more time.

“Alright,” Ino says. “Since you're obviously gonna pick a fight no matter what…” she takes her position in the center, and they set up the Ino-Shika-Cho formation.

Ino’s mind transfers directly into the kunoichi. Shikamaru catches her limp body and directs his shadow possession jutsu towards the boy in the bandages, who is forced to walk into it when Chouji comes at him from behind at full speed in his expansion. Gotcha, Shikamaru thinks, until this second boy breaks his hold by shooting a host of shuriken at him. He gears himself for another shot, when Ino holds a knife up to the kunoichi’s neck.

“I wouldn't do that if I were you,” she says, grazing the knife ever so slightly against her neck.

“Rin!” The second boy cries out. The bandaged boy is unphased. “Zaku, focus on what you have to do.”

Without warning, he releases a second sound wave, but this time at Rin’s body. He is visibly pleased when Ino’s body sustains the same damage. “Nice party trick, but that's not enough to take us out,” he says.

He grabs Rin’s body by the throat, and slashes at her side. Ino’s body bleeds heavily. “Ino!” Chouji yells. Shikamaru grits his teeth. There was only one way out of this.

“Alright, we’ll tell you where Sasuke is.” Sakura whips around to stare at him. He continues to look ahead, ignoring her. “Sakura will tell you exactly where she last saw him, what signs you should look for to find him - “

“I am not doing that,” Sakura says hotly. “I would never give up Sasuke!”

“So you're gonna let your first friend die for the sake of a guy who’s a dick to you half the time? Classic Sakura,” Shikamaru says. It's petty, and low, to bring up events that had transpired when they were little kids, only eight or nine, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn't on Ino’s side. He remembered her obvious devastation when Sakura had told her they couldn't be friends anymore. Because of Sasuke. He remembered how Sakura had gone out of her way to compete with her in the coming years, and Ino became increasingly combative.

Plus, he couldn't lie. He really didn’t care about Sasuke.

“Okay!” Sakura says tearfully. Her hands are shaking violently. “Okay. I’ll tell them, I’ll do it.”

“Make her hurry up, Dosu,” Zaku says, digging his knife deep into Rin’s chest, barely avoiding a vital. Chouji attempts to charge at him, but Dosu knocks him back with a sound wave. He strolls up to Sakura, and grips her tightly by the hair.

“Last chance, or I’m telling Zaku to kill her. And I’ll use your kunai to do it.” He says quietly, ripping the kunai Sakura had been holding in a death grip out of her hands. Tears form in Sakura’s eyes. She’s openly crying now, and Shikamaru wants to shake her, when she suddenly speaks.

“Sasuke was last in the clearing where everyone gathers food. It was near a cave.”

“Is that all you can tell us?”

Sakura turns around to look at him, her eyes flashing dangerously. “It doesn't matter. Because you won't find him.” She moves forward with all her strength, hair tearing out in the process, blood erupting out from her roots, until she's free from the Dosu’s grip. He laughs.

“What a useless and stupid move,” he says, but Sakura is already forming a seal, and has created multiple shadow clones. Two attack the boy, and Sakura’s real body heads towards Zaku. Shikamaru captures Dosu in his shadow possession jutsu. He is about to cry out to Sakura that charging at Zaku head on won't solve anything, when she suddenly pulls out shuriken wires. And in an exact replica of a move he had seen Sasuke perform at the academy countless times, she ensnares Zaku.

“What the hell..” Zaku struggles against the wires momentarily quickly freeing himself, but it’s enough time for Ino to escape, still in Rin’s body. He sees Ino re-enter her own body, watching it come to consciousness but immediately collapse from pain and blood loss.

Zaku raises his hands, about to release a shock wave, when Sakura throws another set of shuriken at him with surprising accuracy. He blasts them away, and they deflect back at her, slicing open her forearms and calves.

But it’s a ruse, Shikamaru realizes, as one of her shadow clones come up behind Zaku, attempting to wrestle him to the ground. He easily flips her over, pulling out a kunai and attempting to drive it through her heart. Shikamaru surveys the field. He can't move forward, holding Dosu in his shadow. Ino is unconscious, and Chouji has to tend to her, as Rin is struggling to get up despite suffering the same blood loss. _These guys are used to pain in a way we’re not._

Sakura is out of chakra. She had never had a large amount. She struggles underneath Zaku on the ground, clearly using every ounce of her strength to keep the kunai at a distance from her - and with a sudden, desperate burst of strength, manages to overturn the kunai right into his heart.

There is an abrupt silence. Zaku collapses on top of her, and Sakura pushes him off frantically, hysterical.

“What just happened?! What did I…” Her words dissolve into incoherency. Shikamaru doesn't know what to say. Because they've trained for this for years, it's true. But he can't quite believe what he’s seeing either.

Dosu is watching in shock, still trapped in Shikamaru’s shadow possession. Chouji takes this moment to knock him out from behind. Sakura is kneeling over Zaku’s lifeless body, still sobbing uncontrollably.

“Sakura, it's alright,” Shikamaru says. “You didn't mean to and...even if you did, he was trying to kill you.”

“So?” Sakura says, clutching at her torn, jagged, bloody hair.

As it turns out, the Oto team already had multiple scrolls - the two necessary for entry into the third round, plus back ups. _So they really were only here for Sasuke_ , Shikamaru thinks. He collects them all, and takes Sakura by the elbow as they exit the field, urging her to move forward, and for once he has nothing to say.

* * *

This wasn't supposed to happen.

For several, excruciating minutes, Sasuke had screamed. Really screamed, the sort of tortured cries a dying animal might release. Naruto had clutched him and hated himself, because Sasuke was supposed to be unshakable, he was supposed to always know what to do, and he was dying again all because Naruto wasn't strong enough.

_I was supposed to save you, this time._

“Get up Sasuke, just stop it, you're stronger than this!” Sasuke had lost consciousness a while back, and Naruto had continued speaking to him as if, with enough goading, he might receive a biting remark in return.

He struggles to carry Sasuke on his back through the woods, fighting off physical exhaustion and sleep deprivation, when he sees four figures in front of him.

“Sakura!” He cries out happily. She looks up at him in surprise, and a smile spreads across her face.

“Naruto,” she says, and her voice is raspy like she's been crying. It's then that Naruto notices that her face is heavily bruised and swollen, her hair torn out til it's half it's usual length and bloody at the roots, and there are gashes all over her arms and legs. She's accompanied by team 10.

“Sakura! What happened?”

“What happened to Sasuke, is he okay?” She asks urgently, looking over his unconscious body.

“I don't know…” Naruto admits. “We met someone who put this weird mark on his neck, he was in a lot of pain, and now he’s just…”

They lay Sasuke down. Shikamaru grabs his wrist. “Well, he's got a pulse.” He lays Ino’s body down next to him. “We have to be alert. Sakura and Chouji are too injured for fight again, and with these two unconscious, it's really up to us.” He speaks directly to Naruto, and Naruto thinks that it's strange and flattering for Shikamaru of all people to take him seriously.

Chouji explains that there had been three Oto shinobi looking for Sasuke. “My dad always told me kekkei genkai clans are sought after, and the sharingan obviously is, since, you know. Maybe the other villages are trying to recruit him or something. I mean, the whole Uchiha situation did make Sasuke kind of famous.”

Naruto didn't remember much about the Uchiha prior to the massacre, sectioned off from the rest of the village as they were. But he remembered how the name Sasuke Uchiha had been on every villager’s lips overnight. A child prodigy, the sole survivor of a massacre and carrier of the legendary sharingan. In all honesty, Naruto had envied the mythologizing of Sasuke. There was nothing romantic about his own tragedy, after all. Sasuke was the village’s prized weapon. Naruto was its laughingstock. Its shameful, dirty secret.

But at the end of the day, maybe it hardly even mattered. Naruto went home alone to his cracked walls and empty fridge. Sasuke went home alone to the Uchiha compound, bleak and imposing and isolated and hollow.

“Hey, Naruto?” Sakura says hesitantly. Naruto looks up sharply, his train of thought broken.

“I was thinking...about those sharingan shipments we saw in Wave Country.”

“They were synthetic, weren't they?” Naruto says.

“I know. But at the same time, I don’t know...they were being shipped to Oto, right? And now Oto shinobi came after Sasuke. It's just weird, don't you think?”

 _Sasuke, Sasuke, why is everyone so obsessed with Sasuke?_ Naruto remembers himself saying, as a chill crawls up his spine.

“Someones after him,” he says, and clenches his fists. _Someone’s after him, because he's an Uchiha, and I’m gonna pummel them._

They find comfortable spots to sleep, and Shikamaru agrees to keep watch, being the least injured and exhausted of the group. Sakura changes the cloth around Ino’s wounds, attempting to curb further bleeding.

Naruto wakes up a few hours later, sensing a strange chakra next to him.

“Sasuke?” He says groggily, as Sasuke stirs in his sleep.

Shikamaru is also alert. “Naruto, something is wrong with Sasuke.” He glances over at the woods. “And someone’s approaching us, I heard footsteps.”

He sees tendrils of sand floating around him, and he doesn't have to guess who’s near.

“We already have both scrolls, Gaara, can we just get to the tower, please?” Naruto recognizes Temari’s voice, just as desperate as it had been that night after the banquet.

“Get out of my way, Temari,” Gaara says.

The others are waking up. Ino looks ahead blearily, and jumps when she realizes who's in front of her. She looks around frantically until she finds Sakura, and her eyes narrow.

“Hey, freak with the gourd on his back.” She stands up unsteadily. Shikamaru mutters something to her, obviously trying to keep her from provoking him.

“What the fuck did you do to Sakura?”

“It wasn't him, Ino,” Sakura tries to pull her down by the arm. “It was the fight from before, just sit down.”

“Just let him have his fun, Temari,” Kankuro is saying. “We won't be able to stop him, and at this point it's just not worth causing a fuss.”

“His fun? Is that you call it now?” Naruto says loudly. Kankuro smiles nastily.

“Sorry, kid. I'm not a fan of what's about to happen any more than you are.”

Suddenly, Gaara’s sand swipes forward to latch onto Naruto. “You…” he growls. “You annoy me”

The sand crawls up Naruto’s body. He can feel it cutting off circulation, and he tries to channel the red chakra - but the seal that woman had placed on him inhibits him. Sakura cries out his name in panic. He’s exhausted, he's injured, he can't fight it off…

“What the hell is going on…”

He hears Sasuke’s voice behind him. Momentarily distracted, Gaara loosens his grip.

There are black streaks across Sasuke’s face. But it's not the physical change that unsettles Naruto so much as the broad, sadistic smirk across Sasuke’s face.

“Sakura, did he do this to you?” He's asking.

“No! Sasuke, please, just…”

Sasuke isn't listening. He walks up to Gaara casually. The sand drops Naruto on the ground, hard, Gaara obviously enraptured by his new opponent.

His sand shoots towards Sasuke, who is able to dodge it - He was never that fast before, Naruto thinks. He counters with a fireball jutsu, which Gaara blocks with hardened sand. Kankuro rolls his eyes.

“This is taking too long. Temari, let's help finish him off.” He says. He’s placing a hand upon his puppet when suddenly, Sasuke is behind him, grabbing his arm and twisting it painfully.

“What the - get off me!”

“What’s wrong?” Sasuke asks, still smiling widely. He digs a kunai into Kankuro’s forearm, across his elbow, gleeful as he cries out in pain. He dips his fingers into the blood and smears it across Kankuro’s face.

“Relax. I thought you liked face paint?” Kankuro struggles against his hold, and Temari watches in fear and disgust. Gaara, on the other hand, seems almost fascinated.

“Sasuke, stop,” Sakura pleads. “I don't wanna see this anymore, just stop…” she's too injured to move to him.

Sasuke doesn't seem to hear her, digging a kunai into Kankuro’s other arm, when Sakura shrieks, louder, “you need to stop!”

He stops.

The marks fade, bit by bit. Naruto is shaken. Kankuro frees himself from his grasp and runs to his sister. Gaara looks at him contemplatively.

“Not like this.” He concludes. “I would like to fight you at full power. Not like this.”

“What...are you talking about..” Sasuke asks, panting. Naruto runs forward to steady him.

“You're like me.” Gaara says simply. “A vessel.”

_What?_

The team from Suna retreats, and Naruto is left with a shell shocked team 10, a distraught Sakura, and Sasuke staring down at his bloodied hands as if he doesn't recognize them.

* * *

They walk to the tower in silence. The scrolls from the Oto team are enough to give both team 10 and team 7 complete sets. There is a screen up top in a small, grey room. The crowd of competitors is surprisingly small.

“As we had less competitors fit to continue fighting than we expected,” the third Hokage is saying, “we are eliminating the preliminary round and moving onto finals. You will have one month of preparation. Use it wisely.”

“Oh man, these match ups are just sadistic,” Shikamaru is saying. Sakura peers up at the screen.

Shikamaru vs. Temari. _That’s not terrible _,__ she thinks _ _.__ Ino vs. Rock Lee was strange, but Lee wouldn't seriously hurt Ino even if he beat her _ _.__ Chouji vs. Dosu. __Okay, that's a bit much.__ Naruto vs. Neji. __That could also be a problem.__ Sakura’s stomach drops as she reads th _ _e__ next match up _ _._ Hinata vs. Gaara. She’s dropping out. She has to _ _.___

But it's the final round that gets to her, makes her heart stop in her chest.

__Sakura vs. Sasuke._ _


End file.
